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.

This post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you purchase through my link. See full disclosure HERE

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

This creamy pasta topped with fresh vegetables is an easy delicious meal.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings
Calories 180 kcal

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

You can use Homemade Ricotta Cheese or store-bought. You can find my easy Homemade Ricotta Cheese HERE.
Store-bought sun-dried tomatoes can also be used but it you would like to make your own, you can find my recipe HERE.
I also used my Herb Salt instead of salt. That recipe is HERE.

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 10gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 469mgPotassium: 397mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 942IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 197mgIron: 2mg
Keyword asparagus, Pasta recipe, Ricotta, sun-dried tomatoes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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

A great way to remember this recipe is to save it to your Pinterest boards. You can find the pin button when you hover over the photo below. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.