One-Pot Pasta With Ricotta and Lemon

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.

I made this with the addition of arugula. So good! Just tossed in the arugula at the end for some green, peppery flavour.

Made this last night as I used up cream and made ricotta. So silky smooth and so easy. Did not use Parmesan. Did use fresh basil. Also tossed in some roasted coins of summer squash and zucchini. Rave reviews all around.

I made this recipie as written, and had none of the texture / "curdled" problems reported by some. It was smooth and rich. I forwarded it to a friend, who made it "exactly", and did not like it after saying much of what others said: "bland", "curdled", "no taste"....I discovered that she inadvertently used low-fat riccotta instead of the full fat version called for. Do use the correct kind. I made again using goat milk riccotta - even more savory!

Yes, the peas are delicious here, and to make the sauce silky smooth, add a tablespoon (or more) of unsalted butter . . . luscious.

Once again, hardly a 15-minute prep time--unless you have a sous chef, which most of us don't, I'd venture to guess. Would be nice to have more accurate prep times with NYT recipes, which are often quite good, just totally unrealistic in that regard.

Be sure to use a very good quality "whole milk" ricotta. It makes a huge difference. There are many supermarket brands out there with very grainy textures that will disappoint. Not having access to a quality, fresh ricotta, I make my own with Melissa Clark's excellent, quick and easy recipe that always comes out perfect.

Great starting point recipe, and made it a few times now. Favorite additions: 1. 2 tbsp of leftover homemade pesto stirred into the ricotta; 2. Sprinkle toasted panko or lightly toasted pine nuts on at the end; and/or 3. Preheat oven to 425/400 convection. Take 2 broccoli crowns, chop into florets; toss them in a light drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle S&P, garlic powder or garlic. Roast on sheet pan for 10-12 min or until done (while pasta boils) with some tasty brown bits. Toss into pasta.

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.

I whipped Trader Joe’s ricotta with a little olive oil, salt and lemon zest before making the sauce. The sauce ended up very smooth and luscious.

Delicious. We make a variation of this often with peas and sausage but the addition of the lemon is really nice as well as the way to get a smooth sauce. Will be making again.

I made this last night to use up some homemade ricotta and it was a hit - plus easy! When I added the reserved cooking liquid to the sauce I was worried I'd thinned it out too much, but it thickened as it cooled and turned into the perfect consistency. I used the zest from two lemons and the juice of one, the pasta has a lovely bright lemon flavor. Didn't have basil so I took someone else's suggestion and tossed in arugula from the garden: delicious!

This was so great and so easy! I stirred in some arugula and topped it with sliced, grilled Italian sausage.

Very good for a quick, tasty dinner. I would suggest if you know in advance that you are going to fix this, do yourself a favor and fix Melissa Clark's recipe for homemade ricotta. Maybe 30 minutes max for the ricotta and would add immeasurably to the flavor here.

Subbing in a half-cup of the Costco fresh pesto for half of the cheese and the basil is a great shortcut. You also don't need to add extra salt.