Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens

Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens

Have you ever wanted to make pasta from scratch? My friends like to elevate me to some godly status when I make my own pasta, but if I’m being honest, it’s really not that hard. It’s definitely time consuming, but it’s easy to do. And technically speaking, you don’t actually need any special tools. Seriously – apart from ingredients, all you really need is a rolling pin and a knife. Though in the case of this beetroot cavatelli, you’ll also need a gnocchi board, but those are like $6.

I originally made this for an Instagram collaboration in honor of National Pasta Day. At the last second, however, I decided to make a full recipe out of this one and whipped up a new pasta for the collab. This pasta is made with beetroot for drama (read: color). But because I’m not big on food waste, I also used the beet’s greens in this dish, which was a true delight.

*Heads up – the above link is an affiliate link. So if you click through and make a purchase, I’ll get a cut.

Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens
Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens
Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens

Beetroot Cavatelli with Browned Butter, Crispy Sage and Beet Greens (serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 beet (pre-cooked)
  • 200g 00 Flour
  • Beet greens from 1 bunch beets (make sure you wash these well), chopped
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 8-10 sage leaves
  • Salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

  1. Put the egg and beet into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. This should take about 30 seconds.
  2. Pour the flour onto a floured surface (a wood board or a baking mat both work great here). Make a small mountain with the flour. Form a well in the center. Then pour the beet/egg mixture into the well.
  3. Slowly incorporate this mixture into the flour with your hands or a fork, working from the inside out.
  4. Knead with either the heels of your hands or the dough hook attachment on a stand mixer for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and springs back a bit when you touch it.
  5. Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with either a lid, saran wrap or some alternative for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the dough from the bowl, and cut it into 6 pieces. Put 5 back in the bowl so that they don’t try out, and roll the first into a long, thin rope. It should be about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the rope crosswise into a bunch of 1/4 inch pieces.
  7. Gently roll each piece against your gnocchi board to form the cavatelli. (See the raw cavatelli picture above if you don’t know what they should look like.) Repeat this and step 6 until all the dough is gone.
  8. Now boil a large pot of water. Salt it generously (I’ve read that it should be as salty as the sea).
  9. While you wait for the water to boil, brown your butter! To do this, simply place the butter in a small pot over medium high heat. Let this go for a few minutes, or until it reaches a deep amber hue. You’ll see it slowly start to brown throughout this process. Once it’s browned, throw the sage leaves in for about a minute before removing it from the heat.
  10. Once the water hits a boil, dump the cavatelli in. Turn the temperature down a bit so that the water is simmering, and cook for about 3 minutes before draining.
  11. Finally, heat the olive oil in a pan. Then add the beet greens. Add a pinch of salt and sautée until wilted (this should only be a couple minutes).
  12. Add the cavatelli and beet greens to the pan with the browned butter and sage, and toss to coat. Then divide onto plates and enjoy!

And now you know how to make pasta! That wasn’t so bad, was it? (I do have to apologize, though – once you’ve tried homemade it’s hard to ho back to the boxed stuff.)

If you make this, post a picture or leave me a comment on Instagram to let me know! I’d love to know see it turned out.