Zesty Ricotta and Lemon Pasta: With Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Asparagus
The base of this dish is pasta with ricotta cheese and a bit of lemon zest and juice. Once it’s well combined with some salt and pepper you toss it with sautéed garlic, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes.
This recipe is so versatile as you can use any pasta you like and you can use toppings of your choice.
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Pasta and Ricotta
I used rigatoni pasta and my homemade ricotta but you can use any short pasta you like and store-bought ricotta.
Ricotta and Lemon Pasta topped asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1/2 pd short pasta
- 3/4 cups homemade ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup pasta water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Topping
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/2 pound asparagus
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained, and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup loosely packed basil
- grated nutmeg (optional)
Instructions
Pasta
- Cook pasta per package directions, drain reserving 1/4 cup of pasta water.
Topping
- While pasta is cooking, add olive oil to a sauté pan on medium-high heat. add the asparagus and cook, stirring continually for about 7 minutes until asparagus is heated through but still crunchy. (Unless you like your veggies mushy then cook until desired consistancy). Add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Season with salt and pepper (or herb salt) to taste.
- In a large mixing bowl add the drained pasta, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Add a bit of the reserved pasta water to create a creamy cheese constancy.
- Top the pasta with the tomato and asparagus mixture. Garnish with basil, parmesan cheese and a bit of grated nutmeg.
Notes
Nutrition
Best Kind of Pasta
In my opinion, there is no bad kind of pasta but the best kind for this recipe is short pasta. The type that I used (rigatoni) is actually better suited for a tomato sauce that can get both on the outside and inside of the noodle. These would be the best option.
- Farfalle (Bow-Tie)
- Orzo
- Rotini
- Macaroni
However, you can use whatever pasta you have in your pantry.
Alternative Ingredients
When making the topping you can use other options besides asparagus such as broccoli or green beans. You can also add spinach, with or without the other veggies.
Instead of sun-dried tomatoes, you can use cherry tomatoes, cooking until they burst in the pan.
Add a Protein
You could also sauté a diced protein in your skillet before you add the veggies (cooking until cooked through). My suggestion would be diced chicken, a piece of salmon, ground turkey, or tofu to make this a one-dish meal.
Enjoy,
Meet Me
Created by Lynn Vogeler, Small House Kitchen is a celebration of the joy found in mostly from-scratch cooking and the magic that happens when great ingredients meet limitless imagination. In our small house, we turn simple ingredients into extraordinary meals with big flavors.
You can find out about all of my other passions; decorating, entertaining, organizing, and gardening over at livinglargeinasmallhouse.com
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