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Chocolate Pasta Salad with Beet and Orange

Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 4 minutes
Total Time 34 minutes
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Pasta Dough
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/2 Cup Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
  • 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon Water
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Dressing
  • 1/2 an Orange, juiced. Zest optional
  • 2 Tablespoons Honey
  • 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
Chocolate Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Honey
  • 1 teaspoon Corn Syrup
  • 2 teaspoons Water
  • 2 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
  • 3 teaspoons Sugar
Other
  • 1 medium Beet, peeled and grated

Method
 

Make pasta dough
  1. Mix all ingredients for pasta thoroughly, and dump onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Add more flour if dough gets tacky and starts to stick. It may take a decent amount more flour here.
    Chocolate Pasta Dough
  2. Rest dough in air-tight container in fridge for 30 minutes.
While Dough is resting, make Dressing and Chocolate Sauce
  1. Dressing: Combine Orange Juice and Honey. Whisk rapidly while drizzling in oil. Season with a pinch of salt.
  2. Chocolate Sauce: Add all ingredients to a small pot, heat over medium-low heat until just warm. Stir until you have a homogenous mixture. Once you have a smooth sauce, you can take it off the heat.
Cut and Cook Pasta
  1. If you have a pasta roller, feel free to use it here. If not, don't fear! Fancy equipment not necessary. Simply roll out the dough with a rolling pin as thin as you can get it, and use a knife to cut into strips. Use plenty of flour here to make sure your dough doesn't stick too much. The extra flour is fine as it will be removed once it hits the boiling water. Also, be mindful that the pasta will puff up a bit once it cooks.
    rolled out pasta dough
  2. Confession time: a lot of fresh pasta recipes say to cook until the pasta floats. But sometimes it seems to float right away when it goes in the water! I don't like this rule. For simplicity, I don't bother with it and always simply boil fresh pasta for about 3-4 minutes without overthinking it. If you're unsure, take out a piece and test its texture. Keep in mind that the size you cut your pasta into will affect cooking time, but again, don't overthink it. And please salt your cooking water! It's a dessert, but we still need flavor.
Assemble the Dish
  1. Drain cooked pasta and add to dressing. The dressing is thin and may seem watery at first, but given a few minutes it will start to soak into the pasta. Mix in your beet, and serve with the chocolate sauce drizzled over. An optional garnish is orange zest and more of your beet.