Hazelnut & Beetroot Pasta Recipe

Heat the oven to 160°C. Tip the hazelnuts onto a baking tray, then toast in the oven for 6-8 mins until evenly golden. Leave to cool, then roughly chop one-quarter of the nuts and set aside for later.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Once boiling, drop in the pasta and cook for 1 min less than pack instructions.

Meanwhile, drain the beetroot and roughly chop. Put into a food processor along with three-quarters of the basil (stalks and all), the whole toasted hazelnuts, garlic clove, extra virgin olive oil and a third of the ricotta. Finely grate in the Parmesan and lemon zest. Blitz everything together to form a finely chopped pesto. Season with salt, black pepper and lemon juice to taste (start with about half a lemon, then taste and add more if needed).

Once the pasta is cooked, drain, saving a large mugful of pasta water. Tip the pasta back into its saucepan. Stir the beetroot pesto through the pasta, adding enough pasta water so that each piece of pasta gets coated and saucy. Reheat a little if needed.

Divide the pasta between bowls. Dot with the remaining ricotta, drizzle with a little more oil then tear over the remaining basil leaves and scatter over the chopped hazelnuts to serve.