Advent 2022 - Fast Tracking #2

 Today's Challenge: Fast from... sugar.

Of all my 'Fast from...' challenges, this may be the hardest for me. If you have dipped into these pages before at all, you will know that I do have quite a sweet tooth and while I'm happy to steer clear of sweet things for many of my meals, I do usually have something that falls into that category every day even if it's only a small nibble. 

Anyway this has been today's sugar-free menu:

Breakfast

tea with unsweetened soya milk 

unsweetened apple juice

citrus fruit salad - oranges and red grapefruit - this is quite tart without any sugar but actually, for all that I have a sweet tooth, I prefer it like this. And grapefruit are less sharp than they were years ago - modern red or pink grapefruit have apparently been specifically developed to be sweeter than the original white version.

homemade Greek-style yoghurt

Lunch

leftover homemade minestrone soup from the weekend

Tea 

black tea

multigrain seeded crackers with sesame, poppy, linseed and pumpkin seeds

Supper

homemade spaghetti chitarra cooked in beetroot juice* with watercress pesto** and Parmesan cheese

clementines, pears and assorted seasonal nuts in their shells 

*This is an extraordinary idea and I freely confess that I have been lured to it solely by the colour. I don't particularly like beetroot (neither does anyone else in the house) but I'm afraid that the prospect of that vivd pink swept all before it!

 I tried making bright pink pasta once before, using some dried beetroot powder mixed with the flour in the pasta dough. It failed miserably - the pasta dough initially came out the most gorgeous magenta colour and as it dried on the rack before cooking, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the beautiful, vibrant colour leached out in the cooking water leaving the finished pasta only a dull, pinky-brownish colour and with a distinct and unwelcome residual flavour of beetroot. It was not a success and complaints were made when it was dished up! 

This method is different. The idea came from an American cooking magazine that Felicity Cloake read on her way home on the Tube one evening and, as I have been, she was entranced by the colour and went on to publish a version of the recipe in her 'A-Z of Eating - a Flavour Map for the Adventurous Cook' where a picture of it features on the cover. Nigella Lawson also has a slightly tweaked version in her 'Eat, Cook, Repeat: Ingredients, Recipes, Stories' 

You can use ordinary bought pasta or make it yourself in the usual way from eggs, flour, salt and a splash of olive oil. When you come to cook it, you par-boil it in ordinary, salted water before adding it to a pan of simmering beetroot juice. During the remainder of the cooking period, it absorbs the colour (and indeed most of the juice) and comes out as per the pic! Fabulous! There were again negative comments made about the beetroot flavour but I have to say that I thought the flavour was far better (ie less pronounced) than I expected and in any case I am so captivated by the success of the colour that I am impervious to all derogatory remarks about it!

**The watercress pesto is something I often make. It's a good deal cheaper to make in the UK than classic pesto Genovese made with lots of basil and I rather like it. The version I make was originally derived from this BBC Good Food recipe, I think. For mine, you toast 50g raw almonds under the grill until they smell toasty and have browned a bit. On no account let them darken too much and burn or you'll have to start over. Once they've cooled, tip them into the food processor and whizz with an 85g bag of washed watercress, 25g grated Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½tsp salt, (an optional clove or two of fresh peeled garlic, if you like or not, if you don't) and enough olive oil to loosen the mixture - at least 50ml. Add a bit more oil if you think the pesto is a bit too thick and decant into a clean, lidded glass jar. 

Leave at room temperature if you are using it the same day. If not, or there are leftovers, store in the fridge but allow it to return to room temperature for a few hours before serving over hot pasta, or to accompany baked fish - baked salmon fillets go particularly well with it. It keeps perfectly well in the fridge for a few days but not long term so once you've made it, it's best to use it up promptly. 

E x