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Beetroot Pici Pasta

If you thought these were some sort of red beans at first, you guessed wrong. It's actually a vibrant purple pasta that is hand rolled into a rustic shape called Pici. They're so easy to make, don't require any specialty equipment like a pasta roller and they're so fun to eat as well. 
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g beetroots approx 2 medium beetroots
  • 200-250 g all purpose flour
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions
 

  • If you're not using pre-cooked beetroots, start by wrapping your beetroots in al-foil and pop them in a 180˚C oven for 1 hour. You don't need to peel them or add any salt or oil. When they're cooked, leave them to cook then peel the skin off with your hands. It should slip off easily, but you might want to wear gloves as they will turn your hands pink. If you're using precooked beets, jump straight to step 2.
  • Add all of your ingredients to a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes until it forms a bright purple and smooth dough. You might need to stop it half way and scrape the sides down but just trust the process. If your dough is a little too dry or wet, read below under Troubleshooting for how to fix it.
  • Transfer the dough to a bench and give it a quick knead to bring it all together then leave it to rest for 5 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.
  • Pinch off a small amount (about a tsp worth). With your hands, roll it into a long skinny shape that somewhat resembles a snake bean. Another great thing about pici pasta is that the size and shape really doesn't matter so don't worry at all if you can't get them perfect... Trust me, mine weren't in the slightest.
  • Drop you pici pasta into a pot of salted boiling water and boil for about 30 seconds to a minute or until they float to the surface.
  • You can top them with whatever sauce you like but I just tossed mine through some garlic butter because I didn't want to hide the pasta.

Notes

The thing with natural products like beetroot is that some might contain more or less water than another. For that reason, your dough might need a little bit more or less liquid to get the right consistency. If it is a little bit dry and doesn't form a squishy dough when you pinch it together, just add about a tbsp of water and blend again. If it's still too crumbly, add another splash and repeat until it's done. If it's too wet, do the opposite and add another tbsp of flour.