The Canned Food Danny Freeman Uses In Pasta Dough - Exclusive

Pasta dough doesn't always have to be traditional. Danny Freeman, aka Danny Loves Pasta on social media, breaks creative boundaries when it comes to making tasty noodles — especially ravioli. He even has a cookbook dedicated to out-of-the-box pasta recipes named "Danny Loves Pasta: 75+ Fun and Colorful Pasta Shapes, Patterns, Sauces, and More." And while you may not have the time to make artistic pasta creations like those he displays on social media, there's no reason you can't take inspiration from his dough recipes to spice up pasta night.

Fresh pasta consists of some pretty basic ingredients: all-purpose flour, eggs, and some water — salt and extra-virgin olive oil too, depending on your preference. But with options nowadays like spinach and chives pasta, red lentil pasta, and brown rice pasta, you can easily change up your dinners with deliciously innovative alternatives. One of the additions Freeman enjoys? "Fresh beets, first off, give you a much brighter color if you're using it in the dough," the recipe creator told Tasting Table during an exclusive interview. He claims that the color is more exuberant (and the flavor tastier) when fresh beets are used, but they will take more time to cook. That's why he recommends canned beets: "Sometimes you have to use something else in a pinch," he explained.

You may already know to always keep the liquid from canned beets because it's actually a good source of vitamins and nutrients. But Danny Freeman advises you to include it in your next batch of pasta dough — along with the veggie itself — telling us, "If you use canned, then they'll already be soft, because they'll already be cooked." And like fresh beets, canned beets add a sweet and earthy flavor to your pasta. The reddish-purple color can also make the process of pasta-making really fun — especially for younger helpers in the kitchen.

Freeman told us he uses a blender or food processor with additional goat cheese for the perfect mix (namely for his beet and goat-cheese stuffed pasta), but you can just as easily blend up one medium beet to add to a classic pasta dough recipe. Per Freeman's cookbook, the red color may fade slightly upon cooking, but the beets will still provide a subtle flavor. Feel free to add your preferred seasoning, like paprika, to spice up your pasta even further.