Since I’ll be changing apartments in a week, I’ve been trying my hand at creating new recipes based on the things that I have lying around in my kitchen. One such ingredient is canned beets…what the heck are you supposed to do with those!? I’ve never been a huge fan of beets and don’t really know how to use them outside of a salad, but as of yesterday I had two cans in my kitchen (stocked by Giorgio’s mother back in August). As I am not one to waste, I decided to see what creative and edible invention I could come up with.

I decided to make pasta. We were having a few people over for dinner, and homemade pasta is always a hit. While Giorgio kneaded the pasta dough, I drained one of the cans of beets and threw the contents into the food processor. After adding a bit of salt and ricotta, I pressed “puree.” The result was a thick, deep purple mousse–beautiful on the eyes but still a little harsh on the palate. I kept my fingers crossed as we rolled out the dough and cut circles into it using the beet can.

From the time the pasta dough is kneaded, you have to work fast as you manipulate it. To make ravioli or agnolotti (stuffed pasta in the shape of a half-moon), you must add the filling, being careful not to overfill, and seal the edges with water before it starts to harden. Otherwise, it is more likely to come apart in the boiling water. A teaspoon of the beet mousse went onto every pasta cut-out. I then wet the edges with a bit of water and pressed the sides together, creating little half-moons. Some stuck to the surface as I tried to transfer them to the drying cloth–these, I had to sprinkle with extra flour to absorb the moisture.

While the pasta dried, I assembled the rest of the meal. I washed and sliced the endives, added a bit of gorgonzola, and topped the salad with some oil and balsamic vinegar. With the first course ready to go and the table being set, I peeled a few pears to roast in the oven in a pan full of watered-down orange juice. I made a makeshift double-boiler to melt butter and chocolate chips, to which I added some stiff egg whites. When the water started to boil for the pasta, I sat everyone down at the table, basted the pears, served the salad, and tossed the agnolotti into the water.

The endive salad was a light precursor to the main course. The agnolotti came out beautifully–the flavor of the beets was more subdued, balanced by the sage and walnut butter which I had drizzled on top. We poured a bit of Valpolicella into the glasses to enjoy alongside our meal. After we cleared our plates, having sopped up the extra butter with bits of baguette, I served the pears, topped with the chocolate glaze. All in all, a delicious meal made with the things I had lying around the house–canned beets, sage leaves, walnut pieces, flour, eggs, pears, and chocolate chips–and every course left me wanting to lick my plate clean.