Is going to be your absolute favorite dish for busy weeknights. 30 minutes, super simple, incredibly delicious, packed with healthy stuff and pink! So what more are you asking for? I couldn’t imagine anything else! Creamy beetroot and goats cheese sauce paired with super delish pasta (whole wheat if wished) topped with fresh goats cheese and breadcrumbs and baked until crispy. Yes, that’s all I need after a long work day.
Probably you think, she’s talking about healthy stuff but promoting pasta? What? And I can tell you – yes! Although it has been said for years that pasta and carbs are unhealthy and make you “fat” that is so not true. Pasta is a great source of protein and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide you with energy throughout the day. It helps not being tired or not having energy. It also is great to eat pasta before a workout because then you will have way more energy than if just eating a salad. Whole wheat pasta also is a great way to include more fiber in your diet. Plus, pasta is super delicious und will satisfy you!
But pasta is, obviously, not the only component of this dish. Actually, the beetroot is the star of the show. I honestly love beets. They are super delicious I believ, especially paired with honey or goats cheese, super pretty (I mean look at that pink color) and packed with a lot of nutrients. For vegetables, they have a pretty solid protein content. Also they are high in fiber and low in calories. Folate and Vitamin C are two minerals/ vitamins that are very present in them too, which is great for the health. Beetroots are anti-inflammatory which is great, especially in winter. Also they may improve digestion and help to regulate your blood pressure levels. Besides all of these benefits, it is super delicious!
The only aspect, I don’t really like about beets is that they take super long to cook! It is not difficult to prepare them, you just peel them and then cook, steam or bake them for an hour but it still takes a lot of time! But since this is a 30minute dish and most of us are not that patient when we are hungry, I decided to use precooked beets. You can find them almost everywhere, in the supermarket, on farmers market or normal markets. It really is not difficult to find them but it saves a lot of time!
Other than beets, there are a few other ingredients in the sauce, but very few to be honest. We add some honey, for some extra sweetness, mustard, to give it a hearty flavor, goats cheese, for the creamy- and addictiveness, salt to embrace the flavor and oat milk to thin it out. If you do not like oat milk you can use any other milk or milk alternative of your preference. You do not heat anything up for the sauce, just blend it all together, which means fewer dishes and less time. The rest is pretty simple and self-explanatory; you drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce. Then the pasta is divided into oven safe dishes or one dish, as you prefer. (I use my le creuset mink pots and they are so adorable!!! I am obsessed with them haha, but you can also use one large one.) we add some more fresh goats cheese on top and sprinkle some breadcrumbs. If you want, top it with some extra Parmesan cheese, but that’s optional. We place them in the oven again, on high heat, grill and let it bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese slightly melted and the breadcrumbs turned crispy.
I love serving this for guest, because you can prepare it very well and simply bake it when wanting to serve. But it really does make a great family dinner or a weeknight dish, when not wanting to spend too much time in the kitchen after an exhausting day or week. This is definitely one of my favorite dishes to make with beetroot because it is so simple but has so much flavor! I hope you like it as much as I do!
Enjoy & happy healthy cooking!
Love,
Katie
Beetroot Pasta Bake with Goats Cheese
A delicious 30 minute, super nutritious pasta dish for a weeknight dinner or to impress guests at a dinner party. Really easy and so good!
What you will need
That is what you will need:
- 320 g pasta short ones, like mini penne, maccheroni, or similar, can use whole wheat if wanted
- 1 large red onion
- 1 tbsp butter
- 500 g cooked beetroot
- 100 g goats cream cheese
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 60 ml milk or any plant bast milk or milk alternative
- 3 tbsp bread crumbs
How to
That is how it works:
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Bring a large pot with salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructios. Preheat the oven to 200°C (grill preferably)
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In a pan melt the butter. Thinly slice the onions into rings. Once the butter is hot, add the onions and brown them on high heat for about 8 minutes, until soft, brown and caramelized.
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Peel (if necessary) and cut the beets into chunks. Add them into a food processor or blender, along with the honey, mustard, half of thecaramelized onions, half of the goats cheese, a generous pinch of salt, and the milk or milk alternative. Blend until smooth. If too thick, add a little more milk or water.
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Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it and then add it back into the pot and toss it with the beetroot sauce and the remaining half of the onions. Either divide the pasta mix onto different small oven safe dishes or one large one, whatever you prefer. Top it with small dotllops of the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs. Bake it in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is slightly molten and the breadcrumbs turned out crispy. Serve and enjoy!
