Beet Cappelletti
I have been itching to make beet pasta for a few months now. Once a standard egg dough felt like second nature, I started a running list of all the colored and flavored doughs I wanted to try next. The only problem was that I could not find fresh beetroot anywhere. I searched for weeks, in multiple supermarkets and every Monday at the farmer’s market.
It didn’t make much sense - beets are a root vegetable and should be everywhere in winter! I began looking in late February, but all I could find was a variety of winter greens (chards and even beet leaves, called bietola in Italian) but no beetroot (barbabietola). I finally found some, one fortuitous day in early March. I had already finished my shopping at the farmer’s market, and was doing one last lap around the stalls when I spotted them. I bought way too many, and split them with a friend - he took the leaves, and I took the roots.
Excited to tackle my list of pink pastas, I roasted and pureed all of the beets, and started with these three-cheese beet cappelletti.
Disclaimer: This recipe is not mine! It’s taken from Meryl over at Pasta Social Club. The recipe was originally printed here at Food52. I decided to try it because of the bright lemony filling, and because I wanted to try this round variation of forming cappelletti, which I don’t see so often in pasta shops in Emilia-Romagna. To make it you will need:
For the dough
1 large or 2 medium beets
~1T extra-virgin olive oil
250 grams 00 flour
50 grams semola di grano duro rimacinata
2 eggs
For the filling & dressing
40 grams (~1 large bunch) flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
10 grams (~1 large handful) fresh mint, leaves only
225 grams ricotta
60 grams goat cheese
30 grams grated Pecorino Romano
1 to 2 lemons
25 grams pine nuts
100 grams butter
Start by roasting your beets. To make one batch of dough, you only need around 2 medium beets, but I roasted more, since the beet purée can frozen for future use!
Wash the beets and trim off the stems and roots. Prick each beet a few times with a fork, coat them in olive oil, and place in a baking dish. Add about 1 cm/.5 inch of water and roast at 200C/400F for around an hour, or until the beets are fork-tender.
While the beets are roasting, make the filling.
Blanch the parsley and mint in boiling water for around 20 seconds, then immediately drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking and maintain their vibrant color. Wring them out and roughly chop.
Blend in a food processor with the cheeses, zest from the lemons, a squeeze of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until you are ready to form the cappelletti.
Once the roasted beets have cooled enough to handle, remove the skins. Roughly chop and blend in a food processor until they are very smooth. You may want to add some residual water from the roasting pan to help the purée come together.
Next, you can make your dough. Mix 70g of the beet purée with the two eggs. Combine your two flours, and make the dough using the same method as a standard egg dough (as seen here).
Once the finished dough has rested for at least 30 minutes, you can roll it out. I found this dough to be much more soft and hydrated than an egg-only dough, so keep extra flour handy in case you need it.
Cut circles around 6cm/2.5in across, and pipe out about a teaspoon of filling in the center of each.
Fold each circle into a half moon, sealing the edges. With the curve facing down, press your finger into the filling to make an indent. Then join the two points together, overlapping the edges slightly, and pinching to seal.
Continue until you have used all the dough. The cappelletti should be able to stand up and maintain their shape on your board
Next, while you bring a pot of water to a boil, toast the pine nuts in a pan with some thinly sliced strips of lemon zest. Add in and melt the butter, and remove from heat until the pasta is cooked.
When the water comes to a boil, salt it generously and cook the cappelletti for 2-3 minutes, until they are tender but not overdone. They will lose some color in the water. Drain them and add to the pan with the butter (over medium heat) and toss for a minute or two to help everything come together.
Serve the pasta right away.
Spoon over some of the butter and pine nuts, and top with extra mint, lemon, or Pecorino, if desired.
