Ingredients
Equipment
Method
For the Pasta
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Pierce the beet all over with a fork. Place it in the center of a piece of tin foil. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with salt. Wrap the tin foil around the beet and place it in the oven with a baking sheet underneath it to catch any drips. Roast for 1 hour or until very tender.1 medium-sized beet
- Take the beet out of the oven and unwrap it. Let cool slightly. When the beet is cool enough to handle, peel and quarter it. Pop the quarters into a food processor. Add the olive oil and blitz until very smooth. Set the puree aside.¼ cup olive oil
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the all-purpose and semolina flour and salt. Form a well in the center of the mixture and add the egg yolks, eggs, and the beet puree. Whisk to combine. Switch to a spoon and begin gradually integrating the dry ingredients into the wet.280g (10oz) all-purpose flour, 115g (4oz) semolina flour, 1 tsp salt, 3 egg yolks, 2 eggs
- Once a rough dough forms, knead it by hand until smooth. The dough should feel dense and lightly tacky to the touch. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into eight even pieces. Working with a piece at a time, roll each bit of dough out into thin sheets using either a pasta maker or the Kitchen Aid pasta attachment. If you're using a pasta attachment, I rolled mine out to a #4. Dust the sheets with semolina flour and keep the sheets and pieces of dough covered to prevent them from drying out.
For the Filling
- Place the preserved lemon and garlic in a food processor. Blitz until it resembles mulch. Add the ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, and salt. Turn the food processor on and slowly stream in the olive oil. Blitz until very smooth. Transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a round tip.1 preserved lemon, 1 clove garlic, 475g (16oz) tub full-fat ricotta, ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano, ½ tsp salt, ¼ cup olive oil
For the Beet Sacchetti
- Working with a sheet at a time, cut a series of circles out of the beet pasta using a 3" biscuit cutter. Pipe heaping teaspoon-sized dollops of the whipped ricotta in the center of each circle. Fold the circles in half to form a half-moon shape, pinching in the center. Gather the ends towards the center to form ruffles. Pinch to seal.1 batch Beet Pasta, 1 batch Whipped Ricotta
- At this point, you can either cook the sacchetti in salted, boiling water for 3 minutes or you can transfer the finished sacchetti to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place it in the freezer. Freeze for 1 hour before transferring them to a freezer bag for longer-term storage. You can cook the sacchetti from frozen the same way you cook them when fresh. ***
- When the sacchetti hit the boiling water, melt butter in a large skillet until lightly browned. Add the olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté until fragrant. Turn the heat to low and add the freshly cooked sacchetti to the skillet. Toss to coat.2 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes **
- Transfer the sacchetti to a plate and spoon some additional sauce over top. Garnish with the pea shoots and the Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.1½ cups pea shoots, Parmigiano Reggiano
Notes
** If you don't particularly like spicy food, knock the crushed red pepper flakes back to 1/2 teaspoon or omit it altogether.
*** I find frozen sacchetti is less delicate to work with than fresh. But I also understand impatience, so whether you choose to freeze or power through, I support you.