Barbie pasta: Dished by Kate cooks up a pink, Barbie-inspired beetroot and feta pasta

Unless you’ve been living under rock or are severely averse to the rosy pink hue, you have no doubt witnessed or participated in the latest Barbie-core trend.

It has been plastered all over our city buses, fiercely debated over lunchtime meetings and has dominated storefronts in bright, magenta pink. Everyone knows that trendy takes a new, less-subtle form these days - it’s plastic, fantastic and Margot Robbie-obsessed.

And now, it seems Barbie-mania is taking over yet another facet of our lives: our dinner table.

Dished by Kate has cooked up a pink, Barbie-inspired, beetroot and feta pasta, perfect for dishing and discussing with your friends when those post-movie munchies hit.

You only need a handful of everyday ingredients to make this gloriously vibrant, pink pasta of dreams. Pre-cooked beetroot cuts the prep time down so you can have this on the table in 15 minutes, ready to gush over Ryan Gosling’s dance moves and Greta Gerwig’s genius interpretation of modern feminism.

Blitzed with feta, cream cheese and garlic, it makes a serious statement at the table and is just what girls’ night in ordered.

Barbie-inspired beetroot and feta pasta

15 minutes | Serves 4

Ingredients

● 200g feta cheese

● 2 tablespoons cream cheese

● 2 large ready-cooked beetroot, approx 400g (not beetroot in vinegar)

● 2 garlic cloves

● 1 tablespoon lemon juice

● ½ teaspoon salt

● 1 tablespoon olive oil

● 400g pasta of your choice

● 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

● 1 tablespoon dukkah

● Handful of fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

1. Cook your pasta. Fill a large pot with enough water to come three-quarters of the way up the sides, then add 1 tablespoon of salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, add your pasta and cook until al dente (cooked, but still firm to the bite). Depending on the pasta you’ve chosen, this should take around 8 minutes (use your pasta packet for exact timing instructions).

2. Make the pink beetroot sauce. While the pasta cooks, add all but 1 tablespoon of your feta to a small food processor, food chopper or blender, along with the cooked beetroot, 2 tablespoons cream cheese, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Blitz into a super smooth sauce, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times to ensure it’s all mixing properly. Taste, then add a little more salt if needed.

3. Combine the pasta and sauce. Scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain your cooked pasta. Transfer it back into the now dry pan. Pour the pink sauce on top, then add ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water. Set it back on the stovetop, and turn the heat to low. Toss the pasta through the sauce, making sure each piece is well coated. Sprinkle over the parmesan, then toss to combine again as the cheese melts into the sauce. Add a little more pasta water if it’s looking a bit thick at this point – you want your pasta in the pan to be saucier than you’d like to serve it – as pasta sits it continues to absorb liquid. This means that if you keep your sauce looser in the pan, by the time you transfer it to your plate to serve, the sauce will be at the perfect consistency.

4. Garnish and serve. Divide the pasta between plates, then crumble over the set-aside feta. Finish with the dukkah and thyme leaves, then serve right away

For more Dished by Kate recipes, head to her website here.

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