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Roasted Beet Penne in Chipotle Spinach Cream Sauce

By 52 Comments

Warning: you may never eat another pasta dish again.

If you have not yet tried chipotle, this is a nice introductory recipe – the milk tempers the fire but the characteristic smokiness of this Mexican chili pepper still comes shining through.
You can use canned beets in a pinch for this recipe, but the flavour of the roasted variety is better.  If you toss the beets in the oven while you’re doing other things in the kitchen, it’s really not much of an inconvenience.  (I usually roast my vegetables first thing in the morning while I’m packing the boys lunches and doing dishes. I always roast more than the recipe calls for to have leftovers for other meals).
This is a swoonworthy pasta – the trick is not having 4 servings!
Roasted Beet Penne in Chipotle Spinach Cream Sauce
    • 450 grams penne rigate, (1 box)

 

    • 1 onion, chopped

 

  • 3 large garlic cloves (or to taste), minced
  • 1 chipotle pepper* in adobo sauce, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup 10% cream
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • 1 cup slivered roasted beets, (about 2 medium size beets) 
  • 1 bag fresh baby spinach, (about 8 cups)
  • Handful of Enoki mushrooms
  • Sea salt

Serves 4

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Roast beets according to directions set out here.

Sautée onion, garlic and chipotle in a large saucepan with olive oil over low-medium heat, until onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add most of the spinach along with cream, milk and cheese.  Stir ingredients until spinach has wilted and flavours have permeated.  Add a touch of sea salt, mixing to combine.

Meanwhile, cook penne al dente according to package directions.  Drain and add cooked penne to saucepan with spinach chipotle cream sauce, mixing to combine.  Add slivered beets and watch pasta take on a gorgeous pink/purple hue.

Divide pasta into serving bowls and top with a few mushrooms and fresh spinach.

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* We all have different tolerance levels for spicy food (warming: chipotle peppers are hot!).  You can start with a minimal amount (a quarter pepper for example), and test your comfort.  There are also chipotle sauces available with a less concentrated intensity than the actual pepper.

Photos by Trinity Nutrition

Comments

  14. @Reiko I am very spoiled… I have an organic bakery on my street, a health food store down the block and a wonderful corner store with stellar produce. Sometimes I just walk in and something, like the brilliant enoki mushrooms, grabs me and demands to be showcased!

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  16. Well…you know my feelings on beets. LOL! But the chipotle, pasta and cream sauce sound absolutely fabulous. I go on a major pasta kick in the fall. It used to be year-round, but I have to limit myself or it will be the end of me. :) If I do skip the beets, do you think I should add another sweet kind of veggie to the dish? Or could it stand alone without the beets?

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  17. “may never eat another pasta dish again”? – best hide this from my wife then, she already has a bit of a pasta addiction going on. You know, I’ve never tried a chipotle pepper – don’t even know what it is. I just have a bit of a “gross” view of Chipotle sauce after watching an episode of South Park once (if you don’t know which one I’m talking about then I recommend you NOT seek it out :D) – at any rate, it led me to assume it’s quite spicy, or is that not the case?

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  22. wow that is a severe warning, so this must be a really good pasta dish! anyway first time at your blog and enjoy your approach to wanting real whole foods (:

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  24. you roast veggies in the morning? you are crazy! hahaha i would go insane doing all that. i like to prep everything the night before. the beets with the pasta looks fabulous!

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  25. I love spicy chipotle peppers and roasted beets, so I know this pasta must be good. Like the Enoki mushrooms on top – they’re also one of my favorites!

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  28. I Love it spicy!. There first meal I ever cooked for my husband was spicy pasta. He was so disappointed. He couldn’t figure out why I would had chili to his pasta. It still makes me laugh. Now we make spicy pasta all the time, and he likes it!

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  33. Oh wow! Look at all those flavors you have going on. I just love the roasted beets. I pretty much love any roasted vegetable, but this is for sure one of my favs!

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  35. Cool! I love new ways to use beets. Got a bunch in the fridge right now, and my way to actually use them before they go bad is that on one day I wash ’em. Next day I chop. Next day I roast. Sigh. Hard to fit in kitchen time around my hates-to-nap 6 month old!

    Reply

  39. @SallyBR

    Hi Sally! I think in the US, you refer to it as half and half cream (1/2 whole milk and 1/2 cream) or table/coffee cream. Knowing our mutual appreciation for pasta :), I think you would really like this one Sally…

    Reply

  41. I love your tip about roasting in the morning! I’ve done that many times as the temperature in Florida gets to hot by midday to further heat up my kitchen! Plus, like you, I have roasted veggies on hand to incorporate into many dishes. And this does sound amazing!! I’ve not roasted beets yet, so this will be a first. And top it with a creamy, heated spinach sauce, this will be a favorite of mine!

    Reply

  42. I am very curious about this recipe, after your powerful endorsement…

    one question, though – what is 10% cream? DO you start from heavy cream and dilute it 1:10 with milk? Or is it a product you can find in specialized stores?

    good idea roasting the veggies early in the morning – I sometimes profit from baking bread and place some veggies in the oven, but the timing can be tricky, I normally don’t like to open the door of the oven too much during bread baking, and it’s nice to move the veggies around as they roast.

    Chipotle pepper is a favorite of mine, I really want to try this recipe

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  43. I see that I have missed a lot of your posts! Sorry dear .. life got a lil busy. I love pasta and any pasta dish and this looks lovely with some great flavor combination.

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  46. I say YES too … I have beets in the garden, spinach coming on and I always have pasta in the house! Enoki could be problematic, but I’m thinking that buttons could pass …. yup, I’m thinking this could be a fun Meatless Monday dinner!

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  47. Looks great! I love beets! The enoki mushrooms look very pretty, too. Our local grocery store sometimes has enoki mushrooms, but they always look very old… I wish I could find fresh ones like yours!

    Reply

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