Category: lunch ideas

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The first time you serve this pasta, people will think you spent hours in the kitchen. You didn’t. The colour comes from beet juice, the creaminess from a simple lemon garlic alfredo, and the pasta itself takes about 3 minutes in a machine. What you get on the plate looks stunning, tastes extraordinary, and is 100% vegetarian. It’s become one of our family’s most requested meals — including by the kids, who love calling it “pink pasta.”

Why You’ll Love This Beet Pasta

• Stunning colour — The beet turns the pasta a vivid magenta. Once it meets the cream sauce it shifts to a deep rose-pink. It’s genuinely beautiful on a plate.
• Unbeatable fresh pasta flavour — There is no comparison between homemade fresh pasta and store-bought dried. The texture is silky, the bite is tender, and the beet adds a subtle earthiness that’s unlike anything else.
• Fun family project — Kids love feeding the pasta machine and watching the pink noodles come out. It turns cooking into a small event.
• Ready in 3 minutes — With the Philips Pasta Maker, the dough kneading and extrusion is automated. You handle the prep and cooking; the machine does the labour.

Ingredients Deep-Dive

Ingredients

Beet — The Star Ingredient

Beets are available year-round in most markets in red, purple, yellow, and white varieties — sometimes even striped. For this pasta, use red or purple for the most dramatic colour.

The earthy, slightly sweet flavour of beet is the reason this pasta needs a bright sauce. The lemon tang in the alfredo brings out the beet’s natural depth and creates a balance that makes the dish feel complete rather than just colourful.

Flour — All-Purpose or Bread Flour?

All-purpose flour is the standard choice for homemade pasta — it produces a soft, pliable dough with good stretch. If you want a chewier pasta with more bite, substitute 50% of the all-purpose with bread flour. Bread flour has higher protein content which creates more gluten structure — the pasta cooks firmer and has more resistance when you bite through it. Both versions are excellent; it’s a texture preference.

The Pasta Machine

This recipe is built around the Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker. It kneads the dough, extrudes it through a disk, and produces fresh pasta in under 3 minutes. You can change the disk to produce spaghetti, penne, fettuccine, and other shapes. It’s one of the most-used machines in our kitchen. If you want the upgraded version with a built-in scale and more disk options, the Philips Avance Automatic Pasta Maker Plus is worth the investment if you make pasta regularly.

Cream Cheese — The Alfredo Secret

The alfredo sauce uses cream cheese instead of heavy cream. This produces a sauce that’s thicker, tangier, and more stable — it doesn’t break or turn greasy when reheated the way cream-based alfredo does. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is the standard choice; its consistent quality makes the sauce reliable every time. The cream cheese melts into the hot milk and butter without needing to be at room temperature.

Lemon — Juice and Zest

Both the juice and the zest go into the sauce. The juice provides the acid that cuts through the fat and makes the cream cheese sauce taste bright rather than heavy. The zest adds fragrance — a floral lemon note that elevates the dish without being harsh. Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter; Eureka lemons are more traditional. Either works. Always strain out seeds when squeezing — biting into a lemon seed is memorably unpleasant.

Parmesan Cheese

Use a block of real Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate it yourself. The pre-grated powdered version has added anti-caking agents that prevent it from melting properly — it clumps in the sauce rather than incorporating smoothly. A fresh block has a nutty, crystalline richness that makes the difference between a good alfredo and a great one.

Pro Tips

Pro Tip 1: Blend the Beet, Don’t Juice It

You have two options for adding beet to the pasta dough: juice the beet (concentrated, vibrant colour) or blend the cooked beet into a smooth puree (retains all the fibre). Juicing produces a slightly more electric colour; blending keeps the whole beet in the pasta without any texture difference in the finished noodles. I prefer blending: you use the whole beet and lose nothing in the process. Blend on high until completely smooth with no chunks before adding to the pasta machine.

Pro Tip 2: The 216g Liquid Measurement

The Philips Pasta Maker requires a specific liquid-to-flour ratio for optimal results. For this recipe: place a container on a scale, zero it, add 2 eggs, then fill with beet puree until the total reaches exactly 216g. This precision ensures the dough is the right consistency every time — not too dry to extrude, not too wet to hold its shape.

Pro Tip 3: Add Protein to Make It Hearty

This is a naturally vegetarian dish. Grilled chicken, sautéed shrimp, or seared beef strips all work beautifully alongside the pasta and sauce. Make a slightly larger batch of the alfredo sauce if you’re adding protein so you have enough to coat everything generously.

What to Serve Alongside

For a complete dinner table, this beet pasta pairs magnificently with our Beet and Avocado Sashimi Appetizer — both dishes feature beet and create a visually stunning spread. A crisp green salad or garlic bread rounds out the meal. For a meat option to accompany, our Best Homemade Fried Chicken provides a satisfying contrast to the pasta’s creaminess.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a pasta machine for this recipe?

The Philips Pasta Maker automates the kneading and extrusion and makes the process fast and consistent. That said, you can make beet pasta by hand: mix the flour and beet-egg liquid into a dough, knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, rest for 30 minutes, then roll thin with a rolling pin and cut into strips. It takes more time and arm strength, but the result is the same.

Can I make this pasta without eggs (vegan)?

Yes. Replace the eggs with additional beet puree. You’ll need to adjust the liquid amount slightly — start with the same 216g total and add a tablespoon more puree if the dough seems too dry. The pasta will be slightly less rich but still colourful and delicious. The alfredo sauce can be made vegan with plant-based cream cheese and milk.

Can I make the pasta ahead of time?

Fresh beet pasta is best cooked the day it’s made. If you need to make it ahead, lay the extruded pasta flat (not overlapping) on a floured baking sheet, dust lightly with flour, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Alternatively, allow the pasta to dry at room temperature for 2 hours, then store loosely in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Why does my beet pasta turn pink instead of deep red?

This is normal. The alkaline proteins in the egg and the heat from boiling water both affect the beet’s pigment. Once you add the cream sauce, the pasta turns a beautiful rose-pink. If you want a deeper colour, use more beet puree and less egg, or use only the beet without egg (vegan version).

Can I use beet powder instead of fresh beet?

Yes. Beet powder is a convenient alternative — add 2–3 tablespoons to the flour before mixing. You’ll still get colour and a mild beet flavour, though it’s slightly less vibrant than fresh beet puree. The nutritional profile is also slightly different since processing removes some of the whole beet’s fibre.

What pasta shapes work best with this sauce?

Spaghetti and fettuccine are the most visually striking — the long strands show off the colour best. Penne and rigatoni also work well because the alfredo sauce clings inside the tubes. Avoid very thin pasta shapes like angel hair — the sauce is too thick and they tend to clump.

Fresh Beet Pasta and Lemon Garlic Alfredo Sauce

Delicious homemade beet pasta with a lemon garlic alfredo sauce. It's tangy, garlicky, and oh so creamy! Print Recipe Pin RecipePrep Time:20 mins35 minsCourse: Main CourseCuisine: American, MediterraneanKeyword: alfredo, beet, fresh, fresh pasta, garlic, homemade pasta, lemon, pasta, phillips pasta and noodle machineServings: 6 people

Equipment

• high speed blender
• Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker

Ingredients

Beet Pasta

• 1 medium size beet root
• 2 eggs
• 550 g all purpose flour
• 7 g salt

Lemon Garlic Alfredo Sauce

• ½ cup butter
• 3 garlic clove grated
• 1½ cup whole milk
• 1 8oz cream cheese
• 2 tsp sea salt
• ½ lemon juice
• lemon zest
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
• black pepper

Instructions

Beet Pasta

• Peel the skin off the beet and cut it in half. fill a small pot with water and put the beets in. cover it with a lid and cook it for 10 minutes. Let it cool, but reserve the water.
• Place the beet within a high-speed blender with ½ cup of its reserved water. Blend on high until it is a smooth smoothie. set aside.
• On a measuring scale, put a medium size container, and turn it on. Make sure it says 0g. Add 2 eggs to the container and fill the container up with beet juice until it reaches 216g. Set aside.

Philips Pasta machine

• take out the Philips pasta and noodle maker. Make sure you have the spaghetti disk attached to the ends. Open the lid, and put in the flour and salt. Close the lid.
• Turn the machine on and press ‘Start.’ Slowly pour in the beet and egg liquid.
• Let the machine knead the dough for 3 minutes. It will beep once it is ready to extrude the pasta.
• Cut the pasta when it is about 20-25cm long.
• Lay the fresh pasta on a baking sheet, and don’t overlap the pasta on top with more.

Cooking the Beet Pasta

• Using a large pot, fill it ¾ full and add 3 tsp of salt (roughly 4L of water). Wait for it to boil.
• Once the water is rapidly boiling, slowly add the fresh pasta to the water. Immediately stir it with chopsticks or something soft that won’t break the pasta apart. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the cooked pasta to a bowl of water. Move the noodles in the water around. Rinse and repeat at least once. strain the noodles and place them in a large bowl. Again don’t place more noodles on top of the weight will have the noodles stick together.

Lemon Garlic Alfredo Sauce

• In a medium-size pot, turn heat to medium-high and place butter inside until melted. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until soft. Add the milk and cream cheese. Turn the heat to low. Add sea salt.
• Add the fresh beet pasta to the sauce and give it a few good stirs. Add the lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Softly toss the noodle until the cheese is melted and the alfredo sauce is well coated with the pasta.
• Garnish pepper on top. Serve immediately.