One-Pot Pasta With Ricotta and Lemon

Name: One-Pot Pasta With Ricotta and Lemon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: European, Italian, Mediterranean
Ingredients: Kosher salt; 1pound short, ribbed pasta, like gemelli or penne; 1cup whole-milk ricotta (8 ounces); 1cup freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino (2 ounces), plus more for serving; 1tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest plus ¼ cup lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons); Black pepper; Red-pepper flakes, for serving; ¼cup thinly sliced or torn basil leaves, for serving (optional)

6 steps

Prep:15minCook:30min

This elegant, bright pasta dish comes together in about the same amount of time it takes to boil noodles and heat up a jar of store-bought marinara. The no-cook sauce is a 50-50 mix of ricotta and Parmesan, with the zest and juice of one lemon thrown in. That’s it. To make it more filling, add peas, asparagus or spinach in the last few minutes of the pasta boiling, or stir in fresh arugula or watercress with the sauce in Step 3. It’s a weeknight and for-company keeper any way you stir it.

Updated at: Sat, 07 Oct 2023 12:55:59 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories570 kcal (29%)

Total Fat11.5 g (16%)

Carbs90.5 g (35%)

Sugars3.5 g (4%)

Protein24.4 g (49%)

Sodium427 mg (21%)

Fiber3.9 g (14%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

kosher salt

1 poundpasta

short, ribbed, like gemelli or penne

1 cupwhole-milk ricotta

1 cupParmesan

freshly grated, or pecorino, plus more for serving

1 tablespoonlemon zest

freshly grated 1 to lemons

¼ cupbasil leaves

thinly sliced or torn, for serving, optional

Instructions

Step 1

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Step 2

In the same pot, make the sauce: Add the ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper and stir until well combined.

Step 3

Add ½ cup pasta water to the sauce and stir until smooth. Add the pasta and continue to stir vigorously until the noodles are well coated. Add more pasta water as needed for a smooth sauce.

Step 4

Divide the pasta among bowls and top with some of the sauce that’s pooled at the bottom of the pot. Garnish with grated Parmesan, black pepper, red-pepper flakes and basil, if using.

Step 5

Variations: Add chopped asparagus the last few minutes of boiling pasta. Toss arugula into the pasta mixture just before serving.

Step 6

Suggestions: Made this tonight for the second time, and made several important upgrades. Most important, I used my mini Cuisinart blender to whip the artisanal whole milk ricotta and Parmesan into a delicious, creamy spread, before tossing it in the pan with spinach, lemon zest, a bit of lemon juice and hot pepper flakes, along with about 1 cup of pasta water. The result was a wonderful, rich sauce -- unlike the first time I did it, when I didn't use the blender and the "sauce" was mostly lumps of ricotta. Great! I added Asparagus and found I didn’t need a full cup of pasta water. Generally needed more lemon zest in there to cut through the heaviness of the ricotta and Parmesan but that could be a personal preference. To make the sauce silky smooth, add a tablespoon (or more) of unsalted butter