Sautéed Beets With Pasta, Sage and Brown Butter

By Mark Bittman

Updated November 22, 2016

  • Craig Lee for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(515)
Comments
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Give a cook a beet, and he’ll probably do one of two things with it: Reject it for fear of turning the kitchen into a juicy red crime scene, or roast it and serve it with goat cheese. I can take this marriage or leave it, but even if you love it, you must admit that it only scratches the surface of what beets have to offer. More than half the time that I prepare beets, I begin by shredding them in a food processor. After that, you can serve them raw with a simple dressing, or you can stir-fry them in a skillet to brown them slightly, which brings out their sweetness like nothing else. This recipe employs the latter technique (with the addition of sage) then calls for tossing the beets with pasta. A finishing of grated Parmesan is a salty counterpoint to the caramelized sweetness of the beets.

Featured in: Do Not Fear a Beet Without Goat Cheese

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Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter

  • 1 ½ pounds beets, peeled and grated

  • 20 fresh sage leaves

  • Cooked pasta

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

21 grams carbs; 31 milligrams cholesterol; 200 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 7 grams fiber; 135 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 12 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Heat butter until it turns nutty brown, then add the beets and sage leaves.

  2. Step 2

    Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beets are tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add some cooked pasta and toss. Garnish with Parmesan.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
515 user ratings
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Comments

Michele Barron-Lunde

I added toasted pecans as a garnish. Yum!

L Villa

I added some crumbled goat cheese on top....Nah! I'm kidding. It's great as written.

Scott

Very good. Used fresh rosemary instead of sage, and it worked well.

Kathleen Eamon

This has become one of my favorite recipes. I make it with three additions: I brown the butter with a half of the sage leaves in it and pull some out to crumble on top at the end, adding the rest with the beets. Then I serve the dish with warm cannellini beans in a touch of butter on top, sprinkled with fresh fine parm and crushed sage leaves. Oh and I serve it all on Jovial gluten free tagliatelle (if anyone needs one, really a super great gf pasta).

Meinmunich

In Provence, we can get black-charred roasted giant beets from a farmers market. I peeled the skin and used it in this recipe with strozzapreti. Added pine nuts and flaky salt atop. Crazy delicious.

Nick

Not sure what the hype is for this one…? Used fresh farm share beets, our own sage, and it was… a pile of shredded beets mixed with pasta. It didn’t make any sense, and was just sort of fine. Great choice if you have a lot of beets lying around I suppose.

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