Mauve-hued Macaroni - An Ode to the Beetroot

A few days back, neighbour girl M's mom Aunty A faced a strange dilemma.Her husband who stays in Darjeeling, a beautiful hill-station at  the foothills of the Himalayas had couriered over a huge carton of fresh vegetables. Now Aunty A is proud grand-mommy to the cutest and naughtiest two year old boy who keeps her on her toes 24x7,running,playing,falling from all sorts of places imaginable, occassionally stopping to blow flying kisses at me from his balcony,which is directly opposite to mine.Now as much as that is very very nice and adorable in my opinion, poor aunty A does not take running around so much after the kid in quite the right spirit,especially at her age. She is left with little time or energy or desire to cook or experiment in the kitchen,and as much as she was glad to receive the gift from Uncle A, she was only too glad to offer me my pick from the array of vegetables that was too much for their little family. I exercised restraint and only chose some crisp french beans and a beautiful large beetroot that when peeled, revealed a glossy,red body and appeared so juicy that I wanted to cook it then and there.
It took me only a couple of minutes to decide on making a red/pink sauce with the vegetable and cook some pasta in it for a filling evening snack/an early dinner. There was spaghetti and macaroni in the pantry,I decided on using the latter.A quick search through the bookmark folder and some blogs I read gave me a basic idea about how to go about it, and I went about cooking with pantry staples to create a tasty pasta dish that highlighted the beautiful vegetable.

Here's what I did -

In a small kadhai, I heated 2 tbsp of Olive Oil on medium heat. Olive Oil should not be smoked on high heat.
Added 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic.
Next,I added half a large green capsicum,julienned and fried.
After around 3-4 minutes, I added cubed pieces of one large Beetroot and fried.
I chopped a small tomato and added it .
After 2 minutes,I added  a cup of milk and some warm water.
At this point the vegetable will start bleeding a gorgeous red colour into the liquid and a pinkish sauce will slowly start to form.
Lowering the heat,I added a teeny blob of butter and gave the mixture one final stir and let the beet cook in the sauce. This will take around 12-15 minutes.
Meanwhile,I cooked about 3 cups of macaroni till al dente according to the instructions on the packet and then drained it and kept aside.
If the sauce seems to stick meanwhile,You can always add more milk. so that there is enough sauce to coat all the pasta. Add salt and pepper and check for seasoning.
When the beet seems just cooked,i.e. is cooked but still has a bite to it,add the pasta to the sauce and stir well to coat the pasta in the sauce.
Sprinkle your choice of herbs - I used Oregano and Red Chilli Flakes.Give it a final stir.
Top with grated cheese, switch off the flame and cover for a while to let the cheese melt.
Serve Hot.

 

This Pasta was wonderful,to say the least. The sauce was delicious, just the right amount of sweet and spicy.I normally always cook macaroni in a white sauce, this was such a wonderful deviance from that. The whole thing came together just perfectly, each element working together in complete harmony to create a creamy textured pasta dish that's packed with all the nutritious goodness of the beetroot. Betaine, found naturally in beets, helps reduce blood pressure and hypertension and is very effective in maintaining the wellness of the heart and the liver. Oh, and did I mention that the dish looks oh so stunningly mauve and pink and burgundy - all at the same time! It is a riot of colours on the plate and an explosion of taste on the palate and leaves one cook and a couple of eaters very,very happy indeed!