Beet Drunken Spaghetti

by Amanda Faller

This is such a beautiful and hearty dish. By boiling the pasta in the wine, you add a ton of flavor before anything else is even added. For a no-alcohol version, just cook the pasta in water or broth.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 L bottle of dry red wine-nothing too expensive, but good enough to drink!

  • 1 pound spaghetti

  • 3-4 medium/large beets, greens reserved if available

  • 3 TBSP olive oil

  • 4 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped

  • 1 bunch of Swiss chard (OR USE YOUR BEET GREENS!), stemmed and chopped

  • 1 cup vegetable stock

  • 2 TBSP butter

  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg

  • 6 oz grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Pour the wine into pasta pot and add enough water to reach the level that you would normally use to cook pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat, salt the water and cook pasta to al-dente. When you drain, set aside 1 cup of the cooking liquid to use later!

While the pasta is cooking, peel and grate the beets. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, cook for about a minute and add the grated beets. Season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium high and cook the beets for 7-8b minutes, then add the greens, stirring to wilt evenly. Season with the nutmeg, then stir in the vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the reserved cooking liquid and the butter, swirling and stirring to melt. Turn off the heat and add the cooked spaghetti, toss for 1 minute. Serve with parmesan on top!