Beet Pasta

My thoughts, as of late:

1. Monday Freaking Morning.
2. Freelancing: Bomb. Do what I like, when I like, and get money? Done.
3. I ordered a lemon tree from Florida. I live in Montana. GROW, baby, GROW!
4. Paleo Diet: Ridiculous. Sorry friends, I know a lot of you are on it. I can't support this train. Call me when you want some real cookies and cheese.
5. Leather boots: Why so hard to find the perfect pair? And why not in my size, when I find the perfect pair? NOT cool.
6. Also, town bikes. I've found TWO perfect bikes, both of which are semi-unattainable (for a reasonable price). I may just have to bite the bullet.
7. Haters gonna hate.
8. Writing goals on our chalkboard wall, which I can see while my head is on my pillow in bed, is intimidating.
9. Springsteen. I can't stop.
10. Pasta. Pasta made at home. PINK pasta, made at home. You cannot go wrong here!

Start with some beets. These were the last few in our garden, ready for harvesting! Roast 'em up, rub the skins off (surprisingly easy, and WEIRDLY smooth. Like, creepy smooth), then puree them in a food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients. Simple stuff like eggs, flour, and salt. Now you have some play-doh!
Pull that mess together, roll up your sleeves, and start your kneading! Throw that sucker around. Show it who's boss.
Eventually it'll calm down and let you know YOU'RE boss. You are. You're the boss. Look at that smooth pink dough! How fun.
Let the dough rest a while. You did just beat it up pretty badly — give it a break! It will reward you with becoming even SMOOTHER, and (debatably) an even brighter PINK!

Not shown is the laborious rolling of dough. I won't lie to you, this takes a little bit of dedication. Get yourself a handsome assistant and roll these babies out with your pasta maker. Or get a KitchenAid attachment to help you out, and send it to me. Since I was making ribbon pasta (for the first time since my early childhood), I had to let it dry a bit. Who said the laundry owns this rack? Not me! Let the pasta have a night out on the town rack.
Get that handy assistant back at your command, and cut the pasta into long ribbons. This is significantly easier, and faster, than the previous rolling/re-rolling/re-rolling step. Let it dry a bit more! This pasta is LOVING the laundry rack!
Cook it up! Fresh pasta takes mere minutes to cook up — seriously, don't over-do it. You'll have delicious fresh pasta in two minutes! If you're lucky I'll get you a sauce recipe to go with this beautiful pink pasta... Check back for it!

Beet Pasta

Adapted from Martha Stewart

8 ounces beets (about 2 medium), without greens
2 teaspoon olive oil
Coarse salt
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Preheat your oven to 375 F. In foil, lined with parchment, drizzle oil and 1 teaspoon salt over the beets. Seal the foil and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool fully before proceeding.

With a paper towel, remove the skins from the beets. In a food processor, puree the beets until as smooth as possible. You should have about ½ cup of puree (I had a tad bit more, but also have nixed one egg yolk from Martha's recipe). Mix in the eggs. Add the salt and flour, and pulse in 10-second bursts until mostly incorporated.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. The dough should drastically change appearance, becoming more elastic and homogenous. Seal tightly in plastic wrap (or ziplock bag), and let rest 1-2 hours.

When the dough has rested, divide it into 8 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time (and leaving the rest in plastic), shape into a rectangle about as thin as the widest setting (1) on your pasta machine. Lightly flour the dough, as needed. Pass the dough through the machine, then fold in thirds (lengthwise), rotate 90 degrees, and pass it through two more times. Continue passing the dough through each setting TWICE, until it is very thin but still in tact. This was the thinnest setting on my pasta-maker, but apparently is setting #5 of 8 on KitchenAid attachments.

For farfalle, lasagna squares, or ravioli, use immediately and cut into the shapes you need. For ribbon pasta, let the dough dry (on a rack) for about 15 minutes. It should feel much dryer, and slightly tacky. At this point, run the dough through the cutting attachment. Let the ribbons dry again for about 20 minutes: until they aren't sticking together. Use immediately, otherwise dust with semolina and store tightly sealed in plastic.

To cook fresh pasta, simply add to boiling water and cook for approximately two minutes. If it floats, it is done! Do NOT over cook, or you will have a floury soup.