By Chef Linda
Bright pink, earthy, and punctuated with a sassy pesto, this vibrant dish is perfect to serve to someone you love. A purée of roasted beets lovingly lavished over your favorite pasta makes a statement–for adults and kids. Best to purchase beets that are attached to the stems and greens because you’ll use the greens in your heart-healthy pesto. Use canned or steamed beets if you must but the flavor and color are superior when using fresh.
Beets have nitrates and pigments that can help lower blood pressure and improve athletic performance. When roasted and puréed, even sworn beet-haters love this dish. Pistachios contain more antioxidants than most nuts and seeds and studies have shown that they help reduce “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and raise “good” cholesterol (HDL). What’s not to love about this dish?
Hot Pink Pasta and Pistachio Pesto
Ingredients
Pasta and Beet-Cashew Sauce
- 2 medium beets
- 1 lb pasta (use gluten-free pasta if desired)
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
Pesto
- 3 large cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/3 cup shelled pistachios
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 cup chopped beet greens (or mix/substitute baby spinach, kale, or basil)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- To make the beet-cashew sauce, pre-heat oven to 450ºF. Wrap beets in foil and place in a dish or on a baking tray. Roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the beets can be easily pierced with a sharp knife. Remove from oven, carefully unwrap, and set aside until cool enough to handle. While the beets are roasting, make the pesto. Place garlic, pistachios, and nutritional yeast in the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add beet greens, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Pulse until everything is finely blended, leaving a bit of texture and color. Transfer pesto to a small bowl and wash the bowl of the food processor. While the beets are cooling, set a large pot of well-salted water on the stove to boil (water should taste like seawater). Cook pasta according to package directions. When done, reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water and drain the rest. Peel the cooled beets with a sharp knife and cut into pieces. Place beets in the bowl food processor fitted with the s-blade. Add the cashews and reserved cooking water. Blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl. Add beet-cashew purée and toss until all the pasta is coated. Serve topped with pistachio pesto.
Cashews aren’t listed in the ingredient list. How much do you use? Raw or roasted and salted?
Hello – and so sorry! It’s 3/4 cup raw cashews. We converted our website last year and I’m still finding missing ingredients and other kooky things in some of our recipes! Thanks so much for reading!