You will love this simple but oh-so-impressive pasta dish, of vibrant scarlet beetroot spaghetti topped with toasted walnuts and scallops. Impressive enough for a dinner party, but simple enough for a week night after work dinner.
There is good reason that pasta is (nearly!) everybody’s favourite. It is quick, easy, endlessly adaptable and relatively frugal, which ticks all my fuss free boxes and makes it perfect for a speedy after work supper.
Pasta is so versatile – you can dress it up or down. When I was at university my two favourite pasta dishes (I hesitate to say recipes) were decidedly dressed down – spaghetti tossed in melted butter with some finely chopped ham, a good sprinkle of cheese and lots of salt and pepper, or penne in creamy sauce of pesto and mayonnaise. Student food at its best bettered only by the cheese and curry powder toastie – for the full effect for this one you need cheap sliced white bread, cheap cheddar and a generic curry powder blend. It’s surprisingly delicious, in a I-really-shouldn’t-but-I-can’t-resist sort of way, and became a firm favourite all those years ago.
A more dressed up pasta dish is this this vibrant scarlet coloured beetroot spaghetti. Now you could make some beetroot pasta from scratch by adding some beetroot powder to pasta dough for flavour and colour, but I’ve used regular store pasta which has been tossed in fried grated beetroot. So simple, but so effective and so much easier than making your own pasta.
Top with some toasted walnuts and a few seared scallops then garnish with some green salad leaves. I added a few beetroot crisps as I’ve been playing with my dehydrator, but you can leave them off, or use a packet of store bought.
Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables not only because of its glorious colour and earthy sweet richness, it is also rather good for you.
7 things you might not know about beetroot
- Beetroot is a great source of folic acid and a very good source of fibre, manganese and potassium. It also contains nitrates, betaine, magnesium and other antioxidants (notably betacyanin)
- A study has shown that drinking beetroot juice can help with with lowering blood pressure
- Beetroot can be boiled, steamed, or roasted or you can slice the raw root very thinly using a mandolin (mind your fingers!) and eaten raw as beetroot carpaccio
- Don’t throw away the greens! Use the stalks and leaves as you would chard, calvo nero or spinach
- Rub a dollop of toothpaste into your hands to get rid of the stains from preparing beetroot. You can also use lemon juice
- The red colour is used as a natural food colouring. It even has an E-number – E162
Scallops give the illusion of luxury and will always impress, but most supermarket sell bags of frozen scallops, sadly minus the roe, but still delicious (If you do want the roe then you need to buy fresh). When using frozen, take them out of the freezer in the morning and leave covered in the fridge all day to defrost. As with any seafood please make sure that it has been responsibly sourced when you buy.
To make this dish vegetarian, simply leave off the scallops and sprinkle a little crumbled feta over the pasta and beetroot.
When cooking pasta use a large pan, bringing the water to a rolling boil and then add salt and pasta. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of scooping out a cup of the cooking liquid once the pasta is nearly ready. The starchy pasta water can be added to nearly all sauces to thin them down and make them go a bit further, and it will add a lovely silkiness to the texture. It is a simple trick, but one that immeasurably improves pasta dishes and is something that you will soon start to do automatically once you realise what a how well it works.
This simple but impressive dish of vibrant scarlet beetroot spaghetti served with seared scallops is easy to make after work, but still impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. Dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes.
- 120 g Spaghetti
- 10 ml Olive oil
- 100 g Beetroot (peeled and grated)
- 25 g Walnuts (lightly toasted)
- 6 Scallops
- 1 tsp Beetroot crisps
- 10 g herby salad leaves
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Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add salt and start to cook the spaghetti
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Whilst the spaghetti is cooking add half the oil to a frying pan and saute the beetroot over a medium heat. Add half a cup of the pasta coking water, and season. Allow to simmer to reduce and to make a sauce.
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Fry the scallops in the remainder of the oil, over a medium heat, for about 3 minutes on each side until they are golden brown and cooked through.
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Drain the spaghetti, reserving some the the cooking water, and add the the beetroot. Add a little of the cooking water if needed to coat the pasta. It should turn a beautiful scarlet.
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Serve immediately with the pasta topped with the scallops, walnuts and a few salad leaves and beetroot crisps.
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If you have a couple of spare beetroot after making this you might like to whizz up a green beetroot smoothie for breakfast!
shelley
Beetroot is my absolute favourite and I cannot believe this – OMG I wanna immediately try it out; YUMMM
Helen
I adore beetroot too. So delicious!
Rebecca | AAUBlog
beetroot is one of my favourite things. Definitely going to be pining for later :)
Rhian Westbury
I’ve had sweet potato, carrot and courgette spaghetti, but never beetroot, Sounds intriguing x
Helen
this is such an easy trick to dye the pasta scarlet!
Stephanie Merry
Wow that looks amazing! I never really use much Beetroot but I want to give this a try x
Helen
so delicious and such a good colour.
Charlie Mace
Oh this sounds scrumptious! I do love beetroot – and the colour is so vibrant and inviting! What a beautiful dish. I love the sound of he veggie option too – a little feta or goats cheese would be delicious. Adding this to my must try list. Thanks Charlie x
Helen
Baked beetroot and feta is so delicious.
Rachel
I absolutely love Beetroot and I love Scallops but have never had them together, I now of course really want to try this x
Helen
A very tasty combination.
Claire
That looks visually pleasing! Yum. I only have eaten beet once, inside a smoothie but need to try again. I love how you added scallops, those are so good!
Helen
Beet in a smoothie is so good!
Shashi at Savory Spin
Wow – what a gorgeously colored pasta. I love beetroot and I like this easier method of coloring pasta – for someone like me who rarely makes my own pasta this is perfect. And – this could be such a festive dish as well.
Helen
so much easier than making pasta from scratch!
Tara
Oh wow! This is quite the impressive dinner. I absolutely love the color of that pasta. How beautiful!
Helen
It is all about the impressive presentation!
Katie | HealthySeasonalRecipes
I love beets too! They are some of my favorite veggies. Great way to prepare them!
Helen
Such a delicious vegetable. the amazing colour is a bonus.
Kristina
such a gorgeous color, and I love all the elements here!
Helen
I think the colour makes it!
Amanda
The color of this spaghetti is absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful, vibrant meal to serve guests (or yourself!). These flavors must pair so well with the scallops.
Helen
Thanks Amanda, it is such a simple dish too!
Kate | Veggie Desserts
Beetroot gives the pasta such a vibrant purple colour!
Helen
I love that colour.
Yaya
The colour is so vibrant! My other half loves beetroot so I will definitely be showing him this recipe.
Helen
The colour is wonderful isn’t it.
Linda Hobbis
Looks delicious but I’m allergic to scallops. Wish I wasn’t – they always look so tasty.
Helen
Unfortunate to be allergic to scallops; you could try with something else. Chicken perhaps.
Rachel Palmer
Oh wow this looks delicious. Beetroot is one of my favourite foods and I think it’s so underused x
Helen
Such a good vegetable, especially at this time of year.
Helen
This sounds delicious. The beetroot pasta looks so pretty too. I’ve never tried cheese & curry powder toasties but I’m so going to make one tonight now!
Helen
I’ve not had a cheese and curry powder toastie for years – they were the best!
Amy Deverson
Beetroot spaghetti sounds so amazing! I have always been interested in making ‘pasta’ out of veg. Looks incredible – I will definitely be trying to make it myself at some point!
Helen
So easy to make, and utterly delicious.
Jake
Looks delicious. Love pasta and my kids do. But never heard of this beetroot. Anyway, thanks for sharing the recipe.
Helen
Such a good vegetable, lovely taste, and a wonderful colour.
Gloria
omg I made it this week It was amazing. thank you so much!! can’t wait for more?
Helen
Delighted you liked it.