Lemon Ricotta Pasta

The Inspiration…

A week or so ago I was scrolling mindlessly through social media and stumbled upon a reel of a woman making a “no cook” ricotta pasta. It was essentially cooked pasta, ricotta cheese, and lemon juice and zest. It sounded delicious, only I wanted a hot and silky pasta sauce, not one at room temperature. I thought to myself that it wouldn’t be hard to enhance that recipe so I set to work on my own.

The first thing I did was find a pasta shape that has lots of crevices to hold onto the sauce I was about to make. I settled on Campanelle, which means “Little Bell” in Italian. It is so pretty, and practical!

I put my water on to boil for the pasta and got to work on the sauce. I started with some olive oil, a shallot, and some minced garlic. I mixed in a little salt and let those start to sweat. Once those became a little translucent I tossed in some halved grape tomatoes and continued cooking until they started to get soft.

I then mixed in my whole milk ricotta, lemon juice, and zest, black pepper and grated parmesan cheese. I thought the sauce was still slightly too thick so I added about 3/4 cup of the water I cooked my pasta in to smooth it out. All that’s left is to mix in your cooked pasta, top with a little more parmesan and some fresh basil, and dig in!

The sweetness from the tomatoes really compliments the cheesy, creamy sauce. I even like to top my serving was a bit more lemon zest. You all know how much I love lemon! I love to serve this with some simple grilled chicken, but honestly, it is a meal in itself!

I love how this pasta clings to all that luscious sauce! Hope your family enjoys it as much as mine!

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Lemon Ricotta Pasta

Yield: 6-8

Author: Julia Goodrich

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 20 Min

This pasta is everything you're looking for! Creamy, cheesy, and rich, yet bright and fresh. This meal comes together quickly, and you are going to love the combination of ricotta, parmesan, garlic, and lemon. It hits the spot and you'll be in love at first bite!

Ingredients

• 1 lb Campanelle pasta (or other pasta of your choice)
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of half a lemon
• 15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 3/4 cup pasta water
• basil and italian parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to the boxed instructions.
2. In a large skillet or dutch oven, add your oil, garlic, shallot, and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until shallot and garlic become translucent.
3. Add in your halved grape tomatoes and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until tomatoes start to get soft.
4. Stir in your ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan, and pepper.
5. If you prefer your sauce to be thinner, stir in about 3/4 cup of the water you cooked your pasta in. This will thin out the sauce and help it become smooth and silky.
6. Stir in your cooked pasta. Top with extra grated parmesan, lemon zest, basil, or parsley. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Calories

511.02

Fat

19.58

Sat. Fat

8.44

Carbs

61.86

Fiber

3.08

Net carbs

58.78

Sugar

3.46

Protein

21.35

Sodium

589.36

Cholesterol

41.82

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.

Pasta, Lemon, Ricotta, Cheese, Parmesan, Garlic, Shallot, Campanelle, Zest, Tomato, Basil,

Dinner

Italian