Lemon Ricotta Pasta With Zucchini and Tomatoes
This quick and delicious pasta with zucchini and tomatoes can be ready in 20 minutes. Tossed with baby spinach and fluffy lemon ricotta, this nutritious but comforting weeknight option makes for a bright summer pasta dish!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb pasta
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, more if necessary
- 2 cups thinly sliced zucchini
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 heaping cups of baby spinach
- 3 large garlic cloves, grated to a paste with a microplane
- Sea salt and cracked pepper
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 cup pasta water When your pasta is about a minute away from being ready, carefully scoop up some pasta water with a ladle and place it into a bowl or measuring cup and set it aside. This helps to form a nice and creamy sauce with the cheeses.
Instructions
- Start by heating up water for your pasta. Once it’s boiling, salt it generously and cook your pasta as per the packages instructions. (While it cooks, you can move on to cooking your veggies.) When the pasta is ready, carefully scoop up about 1 cup of the pasta water and set it aside; drain the rest of the water from the pasta and set the cooked pasta aside.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large deep sauté pan. When the oil is hot, add the garlic paste, zucchini, and tomatoes. Hit it with a bit of salt and sauté over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the veggies have softened (about 8-10 minutes).
- While the veggies sauté, make your ricotta mixture. Stir the ricotta, lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan cheese, and some salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl, then set it aside.
- Once the veggies are tender, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the baby spinach and cover the pan with a lid; let it sit. The spinach will warm up and wilt as it sits with the hot veggies, and even more so once you stir in the hot pasta.
- When the pasta is ready, add it to the pan with the veggies along with the ricotta mixture and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Give it a good mix with tongs, tossing the pasta to coat it with the ricotta and veggies. Add more of the reserved pasta water as needed, if necessary.
- Give the pasta a taste and finish it off with a bit more salt if needed; give it a few cranks of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil if you wish. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Add protein: shredded rotisserie chicken is a fantastic addition, as is some nice sautéed shrimp or even some salmon.
Other veggies you can swap/include: mushrooms, corn, summer squash, or broccoli.
Pecorino Romano or Asiago would work very well in place of Parmesan in this recipe.
For smaller bites of spinach: tear the spinach leaves into smaller pieces or slice them into ribbons, chiffonade style, prior to adding them to the pan.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 456kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 21g | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g
