Roasted Beetroot Pasta Dough

Beetroot gives pasta dough one of the most striking colors you can achieve naturally — a deep, velvety red that holds up beautifully once cooked. It's a variation on the veggie purée coloring method, using roasted beetroot in place of some of your dough's liquid.

Ingredients

• 200g beetroot

• 400g fine flour (00 preferred)

• 50g semolina flour

• 200g eggs (roughly 4 eggs)

• A splash of water, for blending

Tools

• Oven

• Food processor or blender

• Large wooden working board

• Kitchen scale

Roast the beetroot

Roast your beetroot at 180°C for about 35 minutes, or until soft enough to pierce easily with a knife. Let it cool slightly, then peel.

Make the purée

Blend the roasted beetroot with a splash of water until completely smooth. This will make more purée than you need for one batch of dough — freeze the surplus in ice cube portions so it's ready to go next time.

Build the dough

Weigh 50g of the beetroot purée and add it to the center of a bowl filled with your flour and semolina, along with the weighed eggs. Incorporate the liquids into the dry ingredients, then knead into a smooth, velvety dough. As with the classic egg dough method, the dough is ready when it passes the finger-poke test — press gently, and it should spring back.

A note on texture

Like other veggie purée doughs, beetroot dough can behave slightly differently from a plain egg dough — if it feels reluctant to come together, a little extra flour worked in gradually will help. The color will continue to deepen slightly as you knead.

What to make with it

This dough is a natural match for a whipped feta filling (see our beetroot filling guide for the recipe), shaped into mezzelune or lanterne for a dramatic finished dish. It also works well simply cut into long strands if you want the color to be the main event.

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