Beetroot & Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemony Rocket

Serving Size:

Rating:

400 g beetroot (around 1 large or 2 medium-sized beets, skin on, weighed without leafy tops)
3 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil, and more to drizzle if desired
160 g rigatoni pasta
100 g goats cheese (60g for the sauce, 20g per bowl to garnish)
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
1 lemon
2 cups of loosely packed rocket
Salt and pepper, to season to perfection

Preheat the oven to bake 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
If needed, cut the knobbly bit off the top of each beetroot (where the leaves would have been attached). Leaving the garlic in its skin, slice the very tip off one end of the clove.
Place the sliced beetroot onto the baking tray. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and a good few turns of the salt and pepper shaker. Toss with hands or a wooden spoon to coat evenly.
Bake for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, add garlic and toss together. Bake for another 30 minutes, tossing once more at the 30 minute mark.
Remove from oven and leave to slightly cool.

Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to boil over the stovetop. Add pasta, and cook as per packet instructions.
Before it has finished cooking, carefully remove ½ cup of pasta water and keep aside for the sauce.
While that's cooking, add to a food processor the cooked beetroot, garlic (removed from their skins), 60g goats cheese, the remaining olive oil (1 Tbsp), 1 Tbsp lemon juice and a few turns of the salt and pepper shaker. Process until it looks like a chunky red-purple pesto. Add ¼ cup pasta water and blend again. Taste test and add more S&P or lemon juice if desired.
Put pasta back into the saucepan and add sauce. Add a splash more of the pasta water and toss the sauce through. Taste test and add more S&P if needed.
Squeeze the remaining lemon juice (around 1 Tbsp) over the rocket and toss to coat.
Divide rocket and pasta between two serving bowls. Garnish the pasta with a sprinkle of goat cheese and walnuts. Drizzle over a dash more olive oil, if desired. Enjoy!