This time of year can be rough for those of us who love to grow food.

We have passed the fall relief stage (remember when we were waiting for that hard freeze so we could finally pull the tomato plants?), we were excited to use some of our preserved summer bounty for holiday cooking, we tackled some of those indoor projects that we had put off for the first half of the year. Now it is just the countdown to April when we can get the 2017 seedlings in the ground.  One of the ways I manage the wait is to cook a lot–to push myself to be creative about using good, locally grown food in the middle of winter. And to combat the gray skies, I decided a bright plate would be just the thing, and so I made beet pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese! Ingredients:

3 Beets, boiled and pureed

¼ teaspoon salt

3.5 cups flour

4 eggs

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

⅛ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

1. Cut the beets in half and boil, remove the skins when beets are soft
2. Put peeled beets and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a food processor or blender and puree
3. Add flour, salt, eggs, water, and beet puree to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes (until blended)
4. Switch to the dough hook for 2 more minutes, then knead by hand for 2 more minutes on a floured board
5. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and let it rest, covered, for 30 minutes
6. Send the dough through your pasta cutter as directed, or use a rolling pin and a knife to cut your own pasta
7. Cook cut noodles in small batches boiling water for about 1 minute (noodles will float when done)
8. Serve immediately with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese!