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.
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!
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!