Roasted Beet Pasta with Beet Gnocchi, Cream Cheese, Poppy Seeds

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This dish is a little over the top. Beet pasta with beet gnocchi, in cream cheese sauce topped off with toasted poppy seeds is not likely to be found on too many menus or in anybody’s kitchen. I wanted it to be prettier, but waiting until the last minute to take the Five Star Foodie Challenge left me with little time. This morning I had three red beets and I had to do something.

I had already done two beet recipes in recent months. I made a wonderful carpaccio with golden beets back in the fall, and a jewel toned crostini with beets, honey and goat cheese for New Year’s.

Not to be beat by a beat challenge, I wanted to stretch my own abilities and do something new.  I substituted 1/2 cup of beet puree for an egg in my pasta recipe and that worked well. I used purple sweet potatoes for the gnocchi and the combination of flavors seems perfectly balanced. Both beets and sweet potatoes are sweet but in different ways, and I liked how they complimented each other.

I wanted to use toasted poppy seeds and that is what led to a cream cheese sauce. I thought about my favorite bagel and didn’t want to rush in too many flavors so the beets could be tasted.

This dish was a bit rushed, and with more time I may have added in chives or some shallots or sauteed purple onion. But the poppy seeds, when toasted, deliver a great flavor and I’m happy with how this turned out.

Flour, Eggs, Beet Puree for Beet Pasta

Pasta Dough

Once rolled out (or taken through a pasta machine) the pasta sits for 20 minutes covered. Then it is rolled up and cut into pasta noodles.

Pasta is dry enough to be placed into nests until cooking.

 

Beet and Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Roasted Beet Pasta with Beet Gnocchi, Cream Cheese, Poppy Seeds

A unique combination of homemade beet pasta and beet gnocchi made with purple sweet potatoes, with cream cheese sauce.
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • Beet Pasta
  • 1 medium size beet
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons cream or whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds toasted

Instructions

  • Wrap unpeeled beet in foil. Bake for one hour at 300 degrees.
  • Cool and rub off skin. It should peel easily.
  • Puree beet in food processor.
  • Put one cup of flour onto mat. Break in egg. Mix together with a fork. Add in puree, and knead several times to get the beat fully incorporated. Add second cup of flour in, a few tablespoons at a time. You may not need it all. Pasta dough should not be sticky.
  • Wrap in plastic and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. This makes a tender dough.
  • Take through pasta roller or roll into sheets
  • Place on cloth that has been floured. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes or until the pasta can be rolled and cut without sticking together.
  • To cook pasta, place in salted boiling water and cook for 3-6 minutes until done.
  • In separate frying pan, place in cream cheese with milk and cook over low heat until cream cheese is melted. Toss pasta into pan. Plate and add toasted poppy seeds.

Notes

I added in gnocchi on top of the dish and that recipe will be posted separately

Please follow me on instagram. If you make this recipe,  please tag me #spinachtiger.

If you love this recipe, please give it five stars. It means a lot. xoxo

 

Please be sure to check out all the dishes tomorrow morning at Five Star Foodie and Lazaro Cooks.

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32 Comments

  1. Pingback: Pickled Beets (Canning Recipe)
  2. I love this dish Angela. The color of the pasta dough is magical. I saw Deana used poppy seeds with her dish too. That is a brilliant pairing with the beets.
    LL
    P.S. Junk Food should be a lot of fun too!

  3. 5 stars
    Beautiful job. Love the dish. Thank you for participating. It may have been rushed but the final product was marvelous.

    Job well done.

  4. That looks so awesome Angela. I love the color of beetroot and in fact I have a couple of beets left in the fridge so I might give it a go or mmm, maybe I’ll go for that crostini recipe instead!

  5. I have to say I was curious about your gnocchi… the sweet potato addition is really interesting. I love the beet pasta for the color and the flavor. I remember having a terrible version from a shop once that tasted nothing like beets. I tried it at home with good ingredients and voila… delish!

    Once again a great fun dish… love the tousled pasta look!

    1. Thanks Deana, I saw some beet gnocchi around the web. Not very pretty, not deep enough in color. The purple sweet potato was the secret and lots of beet puree.

  6. I would love to try beet pasta…and although it was difficult to photograph the final dish, the photos of the dough are stunning! So glad you made the deadline!

  7. A terrific dish – with the pasta and the gnocchi, the color is so pretty! I love that you used the purple sweet potatoes in the gnocchi too!

5 from 3 votes

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