I recently touted my immense love of roasted beets, and so I hope that none of you thought I was done loving on them just yet! Today I have whipped up an incredibly eye-catching recipe: linguine paired with roasted beet pesto!
Just look at that color! Have you ever seen anything so breathtaking in a dish? I won’t dwell on my love for beets since I have already been there on the blog. So instead I’d like to talk about my love for pesto!
If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know that I just love pesto. I love it on pasta, I love it in tacos, and I love it on pizza. I love it on anything that pesto makes sense with – and also probably some things it doesn’t make sense with!
What I love about it is that it is an incredibly versatile recipe. You can use a variety of ingredients to make your pesto, and all you need to keep standard is the basics of the dish: garlic, olive oil, nuts, salt, and some type of cheese that will combine well with your other ingredients. And given that the cost of basil is somewhat pricey (and my garden unfortunately did not produce as much basil this year as I would have liked it to), I love to go crazy coming up with alternative flavor combos for my pesto (like adding greek yogurt and replacing the basil with spinach in my spinach greek yogurt pesto!).
For this recipe, I chose goat cheese as the cheese to pair with the roasted beets. Goat cheese is super creamy and I think it works really nicely in all sorts of pesto combos. I think it works particularly well in this one because beets and goat cheese are a delicious combination regardless of what form they take on in a dish. Other good cheeses for pestos include parmesan (the classic), asiago, and cream cheese (or Neufchâtel cheese, if you are looking for a somewhat lighter and fancier alternative to cream cheese).
Now it’s your turn: share with me your most creative pesto recipe or idea! Let me know by commenting below, or make your recipe and share it on Instagram! Don’t forget to tag @thecharmingdetroiter!
Don’t miss a single pesto recipe (there are a lot on this blog!):
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- 1 lb. whole beets, scrubbed well and greens removed
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 3/4 cup goat cheese
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 lb. linguine
- Parmesan, for serving
- Microgreens (optional)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wrap beets in tin foil and place on a baking sheet. (If the beets are smaller, wrap several together. If the beets are larger, it is better to wrap them individually.) Roast in the oven for one to one and a half hours, or until beets are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork or toothpick. Unwrap beets and allow to cool slightly before peeling skin and cutting into one inch cubes.
- Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a small pan over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until fragrant.
- Heat a large pot of salted water over high heat. While pasta water is heating, add garlic, walnuts, beets, goat cheese, salt and pepper to a food processor. Pulse to combine. With food processor running, stream olive oil into the top compartment and process until the pesto is creamy. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Once water comes to a boil, cook linguine until al dente. Drain noodles and toss with enough pesto to coat the noodles evenly to your liking. Serve with lots of grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
