The Story
We’re finally, reluctantly, ready to accept that the temperature’s cooling down for another year. At least where we are. And that means that it’s time for some seasonal pasta. This week we’ve got beetroot-striped beef cappelletti, sitting on top of a thick white bean and roasted garlic purée, with some cute roasted baby root vegetables alongside. Yep, it’s roast-themed pasta! And it’s seriously delicious.
While my Ma’s family is thoroughly Italian, my Dad’s is classic English-Australian. And of course that poor lot are often overlooked in a blog about pasta. So we’re dedicating this meat and roast veg pasta to the old man. It’s probably the closest that we’ll get to an English meal, but you never know, maybe we just haven’t given it enough thought yet!
The Pasta
You might remember our cocoa-striped cappelletti from Instagram a while back. They were so popular that we’ve decided to show you how it’s done. Firstly though, quick note: the stripes are really just visual, and in fact even if all of the dough was made with beetroot it’s a subtle and difficult flavour to discern after cooking. But the technique in this recipe is a simple way to doodle on your pasta, and there’s no reason why you can’t substitute that added flavour with a punchier dough like that of our spinach and paprika funghini, or our wild olive pappardelle. Otherwise, we do eat with our eyes as well as our mouths, so get creative and get stripey.
First up, you’ll need two doughs. We find it easiest to mix it all up plain, and then break off about a third and add the freeze-dried beetroot powder into that. As always, don’t cut short the kneading time. Ten minutes of firm kneading then half an hour to rest, all wrapped up and away from any heat or sun.
While the pasta relaxes, prepare the filling. As noted in the recipe card, we used some of the leftover meat from the latest batch of our pressure cooker bone broth. If you don’t have similar leftovers to rework, just quickly fry up a bit of beef mince. Then pulse that in a food processor with the ricotta and pecorino. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and you’re ready to go.
Next, roll all of that pasta out into sheets, and then cut the beetroot dough into thin strands, about the width of thick spaghetti. After last week’s chitarra excitement, you’re probably not surprised to learn that that’s how we cut ours. But a machine attachment or a good old knife works just fine too.
Spritz the plain dough lightly, and then get artsy. Try to use a little tension to keep the beetroot pasta flat as you lay it out, avoiding too many overlaps. Once you’re done, lightly flour the top, and then turn the sheet over. Roll firmly with a rolling pin, but try to avoid stretching the dough too much. This form of lamination will give you a slightly inconsistent pasta thickness, which can be an issue when it comes to cooking, however we try to cover a lot of area with the second layer, and then press it down a bit with that pin. Just be sure to cook your pasta to suit the thickest parts, and it’ll taste great.
Cut or stamp out 7-8cm circles, plop a big teaspoon of filling in the centre, and then turn them into cappelletti. Just fold them in half, seal them into neat little semicircles, and give them a poke in the belly towards that outer curved edge. Bring the corners around the filling to overlap slightly and pinch lightly to complete the shape.
Now, how cute are these stumpy veggies? Stick them in a covered oven dish with a splash of water, and roast them for about 40 minutes.
Remove the skins, toss them in butter, oil, and rosemary, and finish them off uncovered in the oven for another 25-30. Don’t forget to chuck the garlic into the oven at some point.
While all of that’s going on, you can prepare your beans. It’s such a simple thing, but so satisfying. Just be sure to not drain them – all of that juicy stuff they’re sitting in will thicken up the purée nicely. If it’s too runny after blending, just keep adding cheese!
Cook your pasta to al dente in a big pot of lightly salted boiling water, then choose your own plating adventure. To photograph, we tossed the cappelletti in oil and then carefully sat them up on the purée, surrounded by the vegetables. Crack of pepper on top. To eat, we threw everything into one big bowl and stirred it around wildly until everything was evenly coated.
And that’s it. These are fantastic flavours and textures for a chilly evening, sure to fill your belly and make you smile.
Until next time, buon appetito,
– Al & Al.
Ingredients
Pasta
- 150 g 00 flour
- 50 g semolina flour
- 2 eggs be prepared to add up to 1 tbsp of water per egg if cooking with small-regular sized eggs
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tsp freeze-dried beetroot powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Pasta Filling
- 150 g 150g of beef mince, fried in olive oil and seasoned with salt note that we actually used slow-cooked beef retained from our pressure cooker bone broth, but beef mince is a fine substitute
- 50 g fresh ricotta
- 25 g pecorino
- Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetables
- 6-8 baby beetroots
- 6-8 baby turnips
- 6-8 chantenay carrots
- 1/2 head garlic unpeeled
- 1 tbsp butter very soft
- 4 small sprigs thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 400 g cooked tinned cannelini beans undrained
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 25 g pecorino
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Form a well with the 00 and semolina flours and the salt, and then add the eggs and oil into the centre. Use a fork or your hand to bring it together into a rough ball. Adjust with small amounts of water or flour if the dough is too dry or wet respectively.
- Break off one third of the dough, flatten it out, and then knead in the beetroot powder. Alternatively, to aid in colouring, pulse it together in a food processor.
- Knead each piece of dough vigorously for 10 minutes, and then seal in cling wrap before resting for 30 minutes away from heat and direct sunlight.
- Add all pasta filling ingredients into a food processor, and blitz until smooth. It should be at a spoonable consistency.
- Roll each of the doughs through a pasta machine, turning it through the thickest setting a few times (folding over itself in between passes), before incrementally stepping it through to a medium thickness (on a 9-setting pasta machine, a setting of 5). If making a large batch, keep the pasta that you're not using between sheets of cling wrap until you're ready for it.
- Use a chitarra on the thinnest side, a tagliolini cutter, or a knife to slice the beetroot sheets into thin strands of pasta. Next, lay the plain sheets out on a floured surface, spritz lightly with water, and then criss-cross them with the beetroot pasta, pressing lightly as you go. Flour the upwards facing side and then turn the sheets, stripes down.
- Use a large round cookie cutter of approximately 7cm diameter to stamp out circles, then place a large teaspoon of filling into the centre of each. Spray lightly with water, and then fold in half, sealing it into a semicircle. Gently poke the centre towards the curved edge, and then bring the corners around the filling to overlap slightly. Pinch lightly to complete the shape. Transfer to lightly floured baking paper lined trays and refrigerate uncovered for up 1-2 days.
- To prepare the beetroots, turnips, and carrots, roast them in a covered oven dish with a generous splash of water; 200 degree Celsius oven, 40 minutes. Allow them to cool enough to handle, and then peel.
- Toss the peeled vegetables in the butter and 1/2 tbsp of oil, with the thyme, season with salt and pepper, and then return to the oven with the unpeeled garlic cloves. Cook uncovered for 25 minutes, or until they begin to brown. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
- Sauté the onion, with 1 tbsp of oil, in a frypan over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the white beans (with their liquid), and then simmer for a further 10 minutes. Add a little water if it becomes too thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before blending to smooth with the pecorino and roasted garlic.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until al dente. The dough shouldn’t show any white in the centre when cut into. Drain, retaining a little pasta water.
- To serve, toss the pasta into the purée, adding pasta water if too thick or not emulsifying well. Plate up with the vegetables and drizzle with 1/2 tbsp olive oil. For presentation, we tossed the pasta in the oil instead, serving it on top of the beans and vegetables .
