Nutty beetroot pesto pasta
Serves: 4, with pesto leftover
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Nutty beetroot pesto pasta
This recipe makes more pesto than you need (see ‘To store’). It’s delicious spooned over grilled chicken or fish, or tossed with boiled potatoes
Serves: 4, with pesto leftover
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
623Kcal
Fat
32gr
Saturates
8gr
Carbs
61gr
Sugars
8gr
Fibre
7gr
Protein
20gr
Salt
0.6gr
Rebecca Woollard
Rebecca Woollard started her culinary career as a chalet cook. She is now a food stylist and recipe writer with 10 years of magazine experience.
See more of Rebecca Woollard’s recipes
Rebecca Woollard
Rebecca Woollard started her culinary career as a chalet cook. She is now a food stylist and recipe writer with 10 years of magazine experience.
See more of Rebecca Woollard’s recipes
Ingredients
- 100g walnuts
- 6 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil (see tip), plus extra to drizzle
- 1 bunch raw beetroot (approx. 500g trimmed weight), scrubbed, peeled and grated
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 300g linguine
- 60g rocket
- 2 x 30g packs basil, larger stalks removed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 125g Abergavenny goat’s cheese, crumbled (use vegetarian cheese if required)
Step by step
To store
Pack the leftover pesto into a jar and cover the surface with a layer of oil. Seal with a lid and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. To use, simply stir the oil into the pesto then use as you like.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Spread the walnuts out on a baking tray and roast for 8-10 minutes, until deep golden.
-
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying or sauté pan over a high heat. Tip in the beetroot, season well with salt and cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes, until the beetroot is slightly translucent and hot throughout but still crunchy when tasted.TipRapeseed oil has a delicious but distinctive flavour, which some find overpowering in large quantities. Taste it first, and if you’d rather, use half rapeseed oil and half olive oil, or just olive oil.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the garlic then set aside. Boil the pasta according to pack instructions, or until al dente.
- Blitz the cooled walnuts to fine crumbs in a food processor. Stir them through the beetroot, then blitz the rocket and most of the basil in the food processor until finely chopped. Stir this through as well then check the seasoning.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a small ladleful of water. Put the pasta back into the pan and spoon in the pesto to taste (roughly two-thirds). Stir in the pasta water plus lemon juice to taste and cook over a low heat briefly, stirring, until the sauce coats the pasta and clings to it. Divide the pasta between bowls, dotting with the goat’s cheese and finishing with the remaining basil leaves and a drizzle of rapeseed oil. Serve immediately.
