Nadiya Hussain's Beetroot and Feta Pasta

[monksandbones]

I can't remember exactly how long it has been since I first watched Nadiya's Time to Eat and put this recipe on my mental to-cook list, but I recently rewatched the series and remembered that I've been meaning to cook it. Which I did tonight!

You can find the recipe here: Beetroot and Feta Pasta.

If you have a blender or food processor and access to pre-cooked beets, this is just as extremely fast and easy as promised. All the prep for the sauce more than fits into the time it takes to boil the water for the pasta and then cook it. As written, the recipe also makes a double batch of sauce, with the suggestion that you freeze half of it for later.

I more-or-less halved the recipe, and made a few tweaks. Instead of the vacuum-packed cooked beets Nadiya uses on the show, or the cooked beets suggested in the recipe, I used an approximately 400g tin of plain canned beets (drained). I substituted a red bell pepper and a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper for the large red chili, and used less than half the oil, in a mix of canola and olive oil because I don't particularly like the taste of olive oil. I also pre-cooked the garlic, because my digestive system. I used bowtie pasta, which worked pretty well as a delivery vehicle for the sauce!

As an aside, this show reminded me that canned beets exist, and I highly recommend them as a solution to most of your cooked beet needs.

Anyway, this turned out to be extremely tasty! It's a little bit sweet, which contrasts nicely with the feta and dill, has the slightest hint of a spicy kick (it was only 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne), and is very, very pink! I now have lots of leftovers, and I definitely think I'll make this again. I'll probably try it with the red chili pepper too–the red bell pepper I used might be camouflaging the taste of the beets a little.

Lasagne with Roasted Vegetables

[tielan]

The introduction to this recipe says "a colourful lasagne that is both dairy-free and meat-free! As it takes a while to prepare, I always make this recipe in stages. Lasagne is also best made the day before, as it is less likely to fall apart. The good news is that this recipe will feed a party - but you will require a large lasagne tray. Or halve the recipe and use a small one."

recipe


notes, thoughts, changes: This was a fiddly dish - the roasting, then making the tofu ricotta, then layering the elements, then baking - but it was delicious once made!

I really liked the tofu ricotta - the miso and garlic make it absolutely amazing. If you wanted a dairy-free cheeselike sauce or filling and didn't mind the strong flavours? This would do really well as a substitution.




As the introduction suggested, I made a giant pan of the stuff, and froze half of it for later eating. We've just finished the last of it this week and it was still extremely edible.

I'll definitely make it again, when the ingredients are to hand - most likely in the autumn, when there's a glut of the vegies in question.