I looove ricotta cheese. It’s flavor is light and fresh flavor, making it great for warm weather dishes. So when I saw ricotta on sale at the store, I jumped at the chance to make this recipe for Spinach Ricotta Pasta that has been swimming around in the back of my head for a while.
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Customize Your Spinach Ricotta Pasta:
The simplicity of this pasta dish means it’s really easy to customize by swapping out or adding ingredients to make it your own.
Can I Use a Different Vegetable?
I added my favorite versatile vegetable, frozen spinach, to help get a little green and fiber into the meal. If you’re not into spinach, you could try frozen broccoli florets, but I’d make sure to chop them up into smaller pieces before adding them in.
Can I add Meat?
You can bulk up this spinach ricotta pasta and transform it from a side dish to a main dish by adding some chicken. Simply dice up some chicken breast and sauté it in the skillet with the olive oil and garlic in the beginning. You can do the same with shrimp, but remove the shrimp from the skillet after cooking, and add it back to the finished pasta dish to avoid over cooking the shrimp.
Use Good Ricotta
And one last note: all ricotta is not equal. I’ve had some brands that are so good I could eat it with a spoon and others that are just dry and tasteless. It may take some experimenting to find one that you really like (I used Breakstone for this recipe). And for this Spinach Ricotta Pasta recipe in particular, full fat ricotta is definitely best (lower fat ricotta can sometimes be gritty or chalky).
Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. uncooked fettuccine ($0.75)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.24)
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta ($1.22)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($0.40)
Instructions
- Place the frozen spinach in a colander to thaw while you work on the pasta and sauce.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add the pasta. Let the pasta boil until al dente, then drain in a colander. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water to help loosen the sauce later if needed.
- While the pasta is boiling, prepare the ricotta sauce. Mince the garlic and add it to a large skillet with the olive oil. Cook over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes, or just until soft and fragrant (but not browned). Add the milk and ricotta, then stir until relatively smooth (the ricotta may be slightly grainy). Allow the sauce to heat through and come to a low simmer. The sauce will thicken slightly as it simmers. Once it’s thick enough to coat the spoon (3-5 minutes), season with salt and pepper.
- Squeeze the thawed spinach to remove as much excess water as possible (squeeze it in your fist), then add it to the ricotta sauce. Stir until the spinach is distributed throughout the sauce. Taste and adjust salt or pepper if needed. Turn the heat off.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. If the sauce becomes to thick or dry, add a small amount of the reserved pasta cooking water. Serve warm.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Spinach Ricotta Pasta – Step by Step Photos
Before you begin, take about 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach out of the freezer to thaw. Place it in a colander to thaw so that excess moisture can drain away. The amount is flexible, so I just estimated 1/4 of a one pound bag. Begin boiling a large pot of water for the pasta. Once boiling, add 1/2 lb. of pasta to the water and boil until the pasta is just tender. I love this Delallo pasta because it has this great rough texture that helps grab pasta sauce. It’s the best (not a paid advert!).
Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it in a colander, but save about 1/2 cup of the cooking water to help loosen the sauce later if needed.
While the pasta is cooking, you can quickly assemble the ricotta sauce. Start with two cloves of garlic, minced, and 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Place both in a large skillet and sauté over medium-low heat for one to two minutes, or just until it’s soft and fragrant. Try to avoid letting it brown.
Whole milk ricotta is going to make the best sauce, so I highly suggest it for this recipe. Every brand is a little different, as well. It’s been such a long time since I’ve bought ricotta that I forgot which is my favorite brand, but this one was decent, IMHO.
Add one cup of the ricotta and 1/2 cup of milk to the skillet with the garlic and oil. Stir the ingredients together until they’re relatively smooth. The oil may sit on top and the ricotta may still be a bit lumpy or grainy, but that’s okay. Let the sauce heat through and come to a low simmer. It will thicken a little as it simmers.
Once the sauce is thick enough to coat the spoon, season with 1/4 tsp salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Prepare the spinach by squeezing out as much moisture as possible. I just grab it in my hand and squeeze into a fist and let all the water drip out. Once it’s fairly dry, stir it into the sauce.
Stir the spinach into the sauce until it’s well distributed throughout. Turn the heat off.
Finally, stir in the cooked and drained pasta and toss to coat in the sauce. If the sauce becomes too thick or dry, add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to help loosen it up some.
While it’s totally against “tradition”, I find that breaking long pasta like spaghetti or fettuccine in half before cooking it helps me stir in other ingredients later. The strands are still fairly long so they look nice on the plate, but the slightly shorter length helps other ingredients to incorporate into the mix. Can you tell that these are half length noodles?
So there it is. This Spinach Ricotta Pasta is a light yet creamy weeknight pasta that can be thrown together in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. Perfect as a side to grilled or roasted meats, or as a vegetarian main dish when served in larger portions. Pair it up with a medley of grilled vegetables and you’ll be in heaven!
I added lemon before serving. And used fresh spinach. So good.
Hi! Do you think that using fresh spinach is just as good or would it change the directions?
HI! While I haven’t tested it with fresh, I imagine substituting fresh spinach would be totally fine!
Very tasty and easy! I topped with blistered tomatoes, Parmesan, and some cranks of garlic salt mix from the fancy spice store, but otherwise followed the recipe.
Mmm! Excellent ideas!
This was so satisfying and so easy! I love the simplicity of the flavors. I only changed 2 things – doubled the recipe and added frozen peas with the spinach. Plenty of sauce and flavor for my taste. I ended up using about a half cup of the pasta water at the end. YUM!
Sorry but my husband and I didn’t like this recipe. It was too dry and bland.
I sautéed mushrooms and asparagus, added the garlic, used fresh spinach.
Made the sauce as described.
Mixed everything with the pasta, topped with sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Served with a fresh tossed salad.
This is like a 2.5/5.
The fact that this consistently turns out dry suggests that the sauce needs more wet ingredients ie. milk. I added a ton of pesto after to make this taste to my preferences, so I won’t comment on flavor. The dry sauce works well with broccoli
I haven’t made this yet but it sure looks good. As soon as I get all of the ingredients, you can be sure I’ll be cooking it. Thanks for sharing
I probably shouldn’t even be reviewing this with the number of changes I made, but I do think this recipe is a good jumping off point! I realized I didn’t have spinach, so I used equal parts frozen peas and rotini for my pasta. I added a pinch of red pepper flakes to the garlic, then the zest of half a lemon after adding the milk and cheese. Stirred it all together with a good bit of rotisserie chicken and finished with lemon juice.
Very easy , added chorizo pieces , and topped with grated parmigiano reggiano cheese .
Love it! I also made pasta myself, and added more salt & pepper, as well as bacon bits. If you like Ricotta, this recipe is for you.
I did not read the reviews before. This dish is very bland and doesn’t taste of much. It is good for my toddlers, but not for the adults. Plan to add some lemon and pesto to enhance it.
Yummy! Sounds delicious!!
Reading other comments, this recipe had me nervous, but I had some fresh spinach and ricotta that I needed to use up. So I started by frying some BACON! Then went from there with the recipe. However I added sliced grilled chicken breasts for some protein. This was AMAZING! Even my left over hesitant husband ate the left overs the next day. Also, make sure you USE YOUR PASTA WATER. This is a secret in the cooking world that you must use and keep in your frig at all times. Thanks Beth for another good and easy dinner recipe!
This sounds amazing and easy to make! Thanks for the recipe, I will be trying it soon!
Extremely bland and tasteless, even after adding more garlic, basil, oregano, and black pepper. Added even more after tasting. Used high quality ricotta and fresh spinach. Ended up throwing it all out. It was inedible and a waste of good food.
Made this for dinner and I really liked it although it was a little bland. I added salt to it, more than I should have done because of health reasons. IMO this dish would be better served as side to fried chicken cutlets. With that being said it paired very nicely with an Argentinian Merlot.
Is there another kind of noodle I can use instead of fettuccine?
Any long shape pasta will work. :)
Can you use fresh? spinach? Do I need to cook/steam it first?
Yes you can use fresh spinach I would saute it a bit first.
This made a great, speedy lunch to use up leftover ricotta. It took a while to thaw the spinach though, I ended up having to put the colander over my pasta for a few minutes to steam it. I added parmesan, chives and some additional salt and pepper. It was a *bit* bland–perhaps some lemon zest might’ve worked–but I was in need of a quick and satisfying lunch and it provided that.
Added red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese and some cheddar. Delicious
A creamy, good base to add flavors and spices–whatever is in the cabinet or fridge. It hasalways needed more flavor for me. Mushrooms or artichokes or onions or all three, still budget-speed food. The reserved pasta water as per the recipe is important.
This was very bland! Disappointed. Even doubled garlic and add red pepper flakes. Wouldn’t recommend.
What a great idea for using left over ricotta! Really yummy with extra salt and pepper. Thank you!!
I made this and changed it up a bit, based on the reviews saying that it was bland. Absolutely delicious base, just needed some extra flavor. Here’s what worked for me: salt/pepper, red pepper flakes, shallots, parsley, parmesan, and bacon! Super delicious.
not very flavorful, don’t waist your ingredients.
Excellent. I added a bit more salt and garlic though. It needed a little more flavor for me👍
Didn’t work. The milk & ricotta separate really easily. Too little seasoning as well. Had to throw in an old jarred sauce from the fridge to make it palatable.
Can this be made ahead of time? How well does it store?
Hi Melissa! It sure can. You can leave it in the fridge for 3-5 days or freeze it up to 3-6 months.
Would adding basil pesto work?
In addition to the ingredients already? I think it would be delicious!
Agreed with the comments: very bland. I should have added some lemon juice or zest.
Made it a one pot meal. Added chicken, chopped mushrooms and onions. Also a splash of lemon and instead of salt a tsp of chicken soup base. Delish!
Oh that’s great to hear Julie! Thanks for sharing.
Made for a great lunch when I wanted to put just a little more effort into cooking! I added parmesan and nutmeg, which are kind of classic flavors with spinach. Even my 2-year-old liked it!
Hooray for the win all the way around!
Thanks for the recipe! I sauteed some red pepper flakes and chopped shallots, added a sprinkle of rosemary and thyme after adding the milk and ricotta. Turned out creamy and delicious!
Oh those sound like delicious additions!
I was looking for a way to use up some ricotta cheese and spinach I had in the fridge. Just added a 1/4 onion to this with the garlic, and topped with a bit of grated cheddar at the end and thought this was delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Yay! Love it when leftovers work out for new recipes!
Extremely bland, definitely needs some more saltiness from ham or tanginess from some stronger cheese
Thanks for this recipe. I added red pepper flakes and really enjoyed this.
This tastes of nothing. Waste of calories.
My son and I really enjoyed this recipe. I did tweak a little! I added pesto and mushrooms but it was well received by my 3 year old and that’s always a win ❤️
Good. I was wondering if adding pesto would work.
I’ve had good luck making homemade Ricotta. Only made it once but it turned out wonderful. You might want to give it another shot. https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Ricotta-Cheese
Was looking for a way to use up leftover spinach and ricotta- this was perfect! A bit bland as others have commented, so next time I will probably add a little something else. A super quick and easy recipe :) Thank you for sharing!
I would prefer to use fresh baby spinach. Any ideas if that would work? I plan to make this delicious sounding recipe soon but wonder about the fresh spinach. I would appreciate any comments. Thanks
Yes, you can stir the fresh spinach into the hot sauce at the end and let it wilt, then add the pasta. :)
This just just okay. The pasta was bland even after adding tons of salt and pepper. I would add garlic and cheese for more flavor. The spinach wasn’t really warm so I would heat it in some way first. The texture was meh because the sause was quite gritty/lumpy even though I made it correctly. Maybe it’s just the ricotta I used? I don’t think I’ll make this again.
We loved it! Thanks so much! Followed it exactly and everyone was happy :-)
honestly, smelt like farts. gave me a fat ass headache.
Stupid, unnecessary and unhelpful comment. You should post your own recipe rather than trashing someone’s good will. This person charged you nothing for their work, have a little more respect.
I made this to use some leftover fauxfucotta (vegan ricotta) and it turned out really well. It needed more salt and next time I will add some white wine after sautéing the garlic (and some mushrooms), before adding the fauxfucotta and milk. Very nice vegan “comfort pasta.”
What a wonderful, perfectly simple and elegant beautiful recipe. If it’s not obvious, this is the perfect base for you to get creative on top — or not. Thank you so much, I’m so shocked at how good!
This was quick to make, but overall bland.
I added crumbled cooked bacon, and sauteed a shallot with the garlic . Full of flavour.
This was such a creamy recipe! Delicious. I did add the parmesan on top and it was delicious!
I added my own touch to the recipe. In addition to all the ingredients in the recipe. I added zucchini, squash, shrimp and parmesan cheese. I also added creole seasoning for a little kick. Tastes really good.
Very good dish, I made a batch of ricotta and wanted a recipe to highlight the cheese. Thank you for sharing!
Looking for a freezer meal. Would this freeze well? I was also thinking about using spaghetti squash?
Hmm, I don’t think this one would freeze well because it will probably get a bit too dry. As far as spaghetti squash, I think that might just be a matter of personal taste.
I’m going to make this tonight , I bought some pappardelle pasta that I think will go great with this recipe. One thing from reading all other comments , I thought I would share, is that when using ricotta cheese on any recipe you must add nutmeg!, it gives it that “missing thing ” flavor …..I’m going to add it when I make it tonight. Thank you for this recipe!
I’ve been using your recipes for about a year now. I love them all. I’m just sat down to enjoy this recipe. I used 1/2 lb of spinach instead of the recommended 1/4 because I had extra to use, and added 1lb mushrooms. Delish!
Pretty good. I added shrimp for some yummy flavor.
Everything is pretty great except the grainy taste of the ricotta is a little off putting. Otherwise great easy meal
This was delicious! I accidentally put in twice as much spinach so it became very thick, however I added a little more milk and it was great. Kids liked it, it was inexpensive and super easy. Thanks
I am currently making this now. Like other reviewers, I also found it to be a little bland so I added a little lemon juice, onion powder and Italian seasoning. In addition, I added fresh spinach and mushrooms. It is fantastic so far and super easy!
I came across this recipe a while back and finally got around to making it for lunch today b/c I had half a container of ricotta that needed to be used up, lest it go to waste! Overall, it was quick & easy to make, but missing something. Wish I would have read the comments first. I would have doubled up on the garlic and added a bit more salt. I had some half & half left, so I used that with milk to make 1/2 c, so the sauce was nice & creamy when I tossed it with the spinach. I also had 1/2 roasted spaghetti squash, so that’s what I tossed in the sauce. I served it with pre-cooked shrimp. (I always have a bag in the freezer, and they are quick to thaw by running over cold water.) For the shrimp, I just tossed them in a skillet with EVOO to heat them up a bit. I will try the recipe again, with more garlic & salt next time I make it..
This was not good! Mine did not look like this at all. I followed the instructions exactly and it just ended up like noodles with clumps of spinach. No sauce.
Haha, my Nonna would have freaked out, and said that that ricotta was overcooked! She prepared/fried/ otherwise had ready what she wanted to add to the sauce. Then added it, to ROOM temperature, (or still warm from the cheese maker!), ricotta.
Then she added the hot water from cooking the pasta. That’s it. Any more heat or cooking, and she would say ‘No! No!
Rubber-ah Ty-ah!’
I always did it her way… my Mum tried doing it the way it is in this article… it was nice, but not that soft pillow-y ricotta mouthfeel.
Quick & easy. Nextime I will add more garlic. A little bland.
This time I added sauteed mushrooms & parmesan cheese.
I tossed in some shrimp with this and it was amazing!
I tried this and it tasted a bit gritty (from the ricotta) and very very bland. It also seemed like an overwhelming amount of spinach, and I even used a little less than recommended! But definitely light and airy.
I just made this as written out and I HIGHLY recommend adding a little spice to it whether it be cajun seasoning (like I used) or red peppers. Overall it is nice and light, I just thought it needed something more to it though
Made this tonight with fresh ricotta from our co-op. The sauce was delicious as is although I had to add a bit more salt than I’d prefer and a lot of pepper (which I love). That being said, I like to add a lot of veggies in any recipe I use so kale instead of spinach, mushrooms and roasted butternut squash. Probably could have done with a fresh squeeze of lemon but I have no complaints.
This was a great last minute dinner with what I had on hand . For that reason the milk became cashew milk , spinach turned into chopped green chile ,and the fettuccine changed into linguini . It was easy, quick , and delicious . Thanks and YUM ! !
Made it, love it, and so did my husband!
Quick and easy dinner meal. Thank you!
Made this exactly as written, served as a main with a big salad on the side, and it was loved by everyone in the house. We were fighting over the leftovers! Will definitely be making it again.
The texture of this dish wasn’t great. I know it is because of the ricotta, but hard to get past.
Thanks for rescuing me on a night where I’m completely out of ideas! I added some shrimp to this recipe and it was fantastic!
This was super good! I doubled the recipe and tweaked it a bit by adding a bag of fresh spinach, chopped, rotisserie chicken and some half &half. I used bow tie pasta instead of fettuccine but will try it next time with penne pasta. It was even better the next day. We greased a baking dish and filled it half full with the leftover pasta, layered provolone cheese, put the other half of the pasta on that and topped it with a strong cheddar cheese from Trader Joe’s and some parmesan cheese, drizzled a bit of milk around the edges and then baked it in a 400 degree oven for 20 min. OMG…so, so good!!
I’m really not sure what took me so long to make this…but man am I regretting not making it sooner!
This is amaaaazing!
I DID leave out the spinach (my hubby isn’t a fan) and I added a handful of grated parm.
BEtween your ricotta gnocchi and this…my local store might need to buy more ricotta inventory just for me!😂
Good but not as flavorful as this little Italian girl would have liked. May add more garlic next time
Great recipes
This is very bland. Plain and simple.
This is sooooo easy. I am making this TONIGHT!!!!! All of my favorite ingredients…………glad that it does not have parmasan……….so much better without it!
Can you use fresh spinach
Yes, but you’ll want to sauté it down until it is wilted first.
So bland. Added parmesan and red pepper flakes but without copious amounts of salt this dish really lacks flavor.
We really did not like this dish. When they said that it may be dry was an understatement. No matter what I did, I couldn’t loosen it up.
I made this and it was super quick and easy! What a great dish!
Sometime you should try Giusto ricotta. I do make my own when time allows but in a pinch it’s pretty darn close to homemade. This looks like a wonderful and quick recipe and I can’t wait to try it out! Many thanks!
This was delicious but a little bland for my tastes, until I added splash of lemon juice, then it was perfect. :)
I really like this recipe. How about adding nutritional values to each product as well. That would help many of us. Thanks
I expected more from this recipe and had started with shallot, I also used more garlic than called for and still found this recipe kind of lacking or bland. This needs some other spices or herbs and I saw some other reviews that suggested this but not before I had made it. If I made this again I would use those other suggestions.
Made this last night, was just amazing! I’d never tried frozen spinach before and it worked great with this recipe, which was really easy and quick to make.
Brilliant recipe, I only use this one. Very quick and easy. Thank you.
Absolutely wonderful base for a sauce. Followed this recipe and then added butternut squash as another commenter suggested, fresh grated nutmeg added a richness to it, and substituted the black cracked pepper for white pepper.
We had brown sugar bourbon chicken on the side and it went great with jt.
Definitely will use this ricotta base again.
Since it’s officially fall and butternut squash season I decided to use that along with fresh spinach, a little nutmeg and sage. So good. The ricotta base is genius and makes this so easy! Oh ya, used bow tie pasta cuz that is my son’s favorite! I could literally put anything on bow tie pasta and he would make it disappear so this was a big hit on all levels, thank you!
Thank you for the idea with butternut squash it wad a perfect autumn dinner.
Tried this tonight, and it’s so easy, and delicious. I added Shrimp at the last minute, and the sauce cooked it perfectly. Thanks so much.
Tried this tonight with oyster mushrooms chopped into the sauce and fresh spinach. It was good enough for seconds and leftovers are making it into lunches tomorrow.
Next time I’m going to steam the spinach with some lemon, saute the spinach into the garlic and mushrooms earlier, and spice the sauce up a bit.
Looking forward to exploring the rest of the site. :-)
Can you use fresh spinach instead of frozen?
Yes, but you’ll want to sauté it in a skillet until it is wilted first. :)
I made this today and loved it. I used fresh spinach though (lot’s of it) and also one onion. For my BF who isn’t vegetarian I added chorizo at the end and topped it with some Parmesan.
I think the sauce is a good base for lots of variations.
Made this tonight! Made a few tweaks, added some frozen shrimp, used a little more milk, and threw in a little more salt and some red pepper flakes. Feta is also a nice addition. All in all this is a super easy and very customizeable recipe that anyone can tweak to their own tastes :) would be good with any kind of meat in my opinion, even though I dont eat anymore. Love it!
I’m a sixteen year old girl with busy parents, so I do a lot of the cooking at home. I’ve been a HUGE fan of your blog for a couple of years now. Although I’ve only tried a few of your recipes, this has to be my favorite. I used red rhubarb chard in place of spinach because I was out, and I think the red stems added a nice pop of color to this already awesome dish. This is probably the best pasta ever.
Made this tonight and loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
HI,
Made this yesterday and we just loved it!!! I’m a huge ricotta fan so I knew it was going to be a hit. Made just as and wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks!!!
I subbed the spinach for kale which I had on hand and generally prefer – DELICIOUS!
I love your website! So many delicious recipes – I’ve tried several and plan to continue to do so!
Thank you for your wonderful blog!
My mom mom gave me this recipe 25 years ago, to make during lent. Love it!!
Made this tonight using your sauce recipe, pan fried some chicken tenderloins with purple onions and assorted spices, some red pepper and double the garlic. After the sauce was added, the chicken simmered for a little bit. Home run! Will be doing this one again!
I just made this for dinner. I had high hopes, but found it to be bland and grainy. I stirred the sauce quite a bit and added a little extra salt and pepper. Maybe playing around with some extra seasoning would help.
This recipe was fast and easy, it was a bit bland I looked at other comments and added some lemon and some chopped up sweet tomatoes, basil and some garlic powder. Was good and light!
After reading comments, I made this but added a sauteed onion to the garlic and then 1/2 cup parmesan to the sauce mixture. It came out great! I’ve eaten it reheated for lunch (with a dash of milk to loosen it up) all week.
Was really bland so I added basil, red pepper flakes, and some parmesan cheese. It helped a little.
i made this last night and found it to be kind of bland. Added some nutmeg, which helped a little. Maybe it was my brand of Ricotta cheese and I didn’t use any Parm. It was a great starting point, though.
I had the same problem. It was really bland, I tried to add Chilli Flakes zing it. It didn’t really help though. It was just lacking in flavour.
In your instructions it says –
“INSTRUCTIONS
Place the frozen spinach in a colander to thaw while you work on the past and sauce…”
While I work on the past?! Boy, that’s going to take a lot longer than it takes spinach to thaw…
Sorry, I had to point it out; I was laughing for a good ten minutes about it. Recipe jokes are hilarious!
Hahaha, thanks for catching that. :) Fixing it now!
I was looking through my pasta board on my Pinterest site and came across this one and since I was looking for something that was easy, simple and not too heavy I decided to make this. I always keep Ricotta cheese and spinach in my refrigerator so this was a cinch to make. As I was making and I wondered how lemon added to the mix would taste so when it was done I divided it into two portions and mixed in some lemon zest and lemon juice to one portion. I can tell you that both portions-with and without the lemon- were excellent.
This is definitely a keeper!
This recipe is such an amazing go-to! It was so easy to make. It was also simple to double the recipe which I did, so we would have plenty for leftovers for lunch for the week! The one thing I changed was I added a little flour to the garlic and oil (once it browned) before adding the milk. I did this, because I was too lazy to drain the frozen spinach and wanted to make sure it was thick enough. It turned out great!
This was exactly the sort of thing I was in the mood for tonight–delicious and super easy! I’m imagining the leftovers topped with a spoonful of tomato sauce, a sprinkle of mozzarella and heated under the broiler for a lazy lasagna of sorts.
I love that idea, I have a lot leftover but would love to change it up a bit, thanks for the tip!
I just wanted to say that I made this and calculated the nutrition facts! This is what I calculated the nutrition to be for 1 oz (28.35 g) of the mixture.
https://i.imgur.com/s9nb0k9.png
I agree about using cottage cheese, budget wise and now you can buy Barilla Plus elbows to use instead of ziti !
YUM! just yum – can’t wait to try this
This provided a great jumping off point for us last week! Used your basic recipe but doubled the garlic, used fresh spigarello (from our CSA box, I had no idea what to do with it) instead of spinach, added some mushrooms and red pepper flakes.
I never would have thought about using ricotta as a base for sauce, thanks for the great idea! So easy and fresh tasting.
Making this for dinner tonight (6/1/15).
I have made several of your recipes. I tried this one tonight, because I was able to get spinach at my local farmers market dirt cheap. I used the fresh and added in some fresh basil as well. It came out amazing! Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Another winner! And for a pasta dish, it’s not too high calorie either. This will make it in to my rotation this summer for sure.
Oh My God , this looks so heavenly. Will definitely be giving this a go . <3
– http://minalousha.blogspot.co.uk
So I’m guessing you couldn’t sub cottage cheese for the ricotta cheese? I sub it in my lasagna and that works.
Unfortunately in this recipe it wouldn’t work well because the texture is so different. The large curds would prevent it from making a sauce.
You could run it through a blender with the milk before putting it into the pan…. that is what I’ve done in similar situations.
I am eating this right now for lunch and it tastes good cold! I added parmesan cheese & extra salt and next time will add artichoke hearts + the oil they are in, I think that would make this dish rock! (sort of like a spinach artichoke dip pasta) I also used bow ties instead of fettucine.
It’s almost like manicotti without the shells and just with flat pasta. I will be having to try this sometime soon. Unfortunately, I used my ricotti cheese all up when I made manicotti the other night ;(
I love ricotta, too! I always have to eat it when my boyfriend is away or not around though because he doesn’t like it. Looks like I’ll be making this wonderful dish for myself soon. :)
I found it being too bland, even though I added some thyme and veggie stock to it.
I see my hysterical OMG comment hasn’t been posted and I don’t blame whoever moderates these comments. Let me just state that I am very pregnant and I have an odd relationship with food right now and the second I saw this recipe, my brain short circuited for about 18 hours.
I went out and got some ricotta, made this, and just finished stuffing my face. SO GOOD. Opening the freezer sometimes causes nausea (temperature is a delicate balance right now) so I decided against spinach and had it with a whole onion, caramelized, and I tripled the garlic. I’m so mad I only made one serving. I could eat this for the rest of my pregnancy.
Thank you Beth!!!
Hahah, sorry Raquel, I just got a little behind on moderating the comments. :) Both are up now. AND since you now have a comment (or two, actually) that have been approved, any future comments you make using that email address will appear immediately instead of being held in moderation. Yay! :D
I can’t wait to try this. I’m going to use several handfuls of fresh baby spinach. I think just adding it in and letting it wilt in the heat of the sauce should do the trick.
I too am in love with ricotta..and just cheese in general. As much as I love sweet things, I think I have a cheese-tooth to match. It that’s a thing. Anyways. This looks delicious! One of my favorite comfort foods!
I love every part of this, though I would probably add more garlic. I’m a garlic fiend.
But I love how easy this is!
I think it would be really good with roasted garlic too!
Made this last night. I doubled the garlic. It was excellent !
I used to hate ricotta and spinach, but this looks good…will have to try!
Looks awesome! I only have 130g light cream cheese though, could I substitute that in? I’m not sure how much 1 cup is in weight…
I don’t think cream cheese work work quite the same here. My container of ricotta says it’s 425g and it’s just under 2 cups, so I’m guessing one cup is somewhere around 200g.
Beth, would it be possible to sub fresh spinach for frozen? I was thinking I’d tear it into smaller pieces if needed. It looks great!
Yep, just toss the fresh spinach into the sauce and let it wilt down, which will happen quickly. :)
Could you use fresh spinach instead of frozen? If so, how much would you recommend? (I have some fresh spinach leftover from another recipe and this would be a great opportunity to use it up.)
I think a couple hand fulls would work well. Just toss the fresh spinach into the sauce and stir it in until it wilts. :)
WHY DON’T I OWN RICOTTA RIGHT NOW???????!?!!
My mom used to make something very similar to this, with shell pasta. What a great reminder to make it again, such easy comfort food!
This looks DIVINE!!! Can’t wait to try it out.
This sounds amazing – I can’t wait to try it. Do you think that fresh spinach would work also?
Yep, just toss a couple handfulls into the sauce and let it wilt down as you stir. :)
This looks fabulous! I like Karen’s idea of broccoli and shrimp, I bet doing a simple pan seared chicken breast would turn out really well this too.
This looks like the perfect pasta dish for when I’m feeling lazy but want something really quickly and comforting without compromising on taste. Mmmmm.
Beth, this looks DELISH!!! It’s on my grocery list, and I cannot wait to double the recipe and make it for a dinner we are having with a friend. Add some steamed broccoli, grilled shrimp, and it should be a home run.
I’m adding the broccoli too! I used to hate ricotta, how weird is that? Now I love it.
Made this tonight (with a few variations-I added shredded chicken from the freezer along with some oregano, basil and parsley) and my husband said it was his favorite pasta recipe that we’ve made from your blog! Next time a little nutmeg will round it out perfectly! Thanks!
Oh yum! Do you think this would freeze well?
I feel like this one would probably get a little dry if frozen, but I haven’t tried it (I ate all mine!).
Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of pasta. Not sure why but just haven’t. However, recently my wife started making some white sauced pastas with whole grain noodles and I cannot get enough. I can’t wait to try out this recipe as I know she is a big fan of Ricotta. Thank you so much for the post and I look forward to more!
This looks seriously delicious!
Silly question….how do you break the pasta and not have them torpedo all over the kitchen? :)
Hahaha, I don’t know, they just didn’t. :) Hold on tight I guess? I think the thicker pasta like this doesn’t fly all over as much as say spaghetti would. :P