How Do I Make Pasta With Ricotta Cheese
If you're looking for a quick and easy last minute dinner idea, pasta with ricotta is for you! This simple 2 ingredient recipe is perfect Italian comfort food and ready in only 10 minutes.
Pasta with ricotta, orpasta ca ricotta as we call it in Sicilian, is hardly a recipe. I've been hesitating about writing this post for the longest time now. I mean, cook pasta and stir in ricotta is hardly a recipe, right?
This is one of those dishes that my mother made (and still makes today) when you want a quick and easy pasta dish and you happen to have a container of ricotta in the fridge. It's not a fancy dish, as you can see, and it's definitely not what you make when you're having dinner guests. However, this is more than just a recipe for me. It's an important family tradition.
Memories of mom's homemade ricotta:
Pasta with ricotta brings back memories from my childhood. I picture driving to the countryside with my parents on a Sunday afternoon to visit a dairy farm. We'd purchase a couple of gallons of raw fresh milk. Then we drove all the way back home and my mother would make fresh ricotta. I recall my father at the kitchen table with a huge bowl of front of him, sipping the hot whey in which little mounds of ricotta were floating.
Of course I'll have to admit that I dreaded these trips! I found them incredibly boring at the time and furthermore, homemade ricotta did not impress me much at all.
However, I do recall the rich flavor of this homemade ricotta that fails to compare to store bought. Making homemade ricotta is actually on my lengthy to do list! But for now I've settled on the store bought variety.
Some of my favorite recipes with ricotta:
Some of my favorite dishes, sweet or savory, are made with ricotta. In fact I have a whole category of recipes under the heading of ricotta! Here are a few:
Sicilian Cannoli with Ricotta Filling
Mortadella, Ricotta and Pistachio Pesto Pizza
Mom's Sicilian Ricotta Pie
And I could go on and on!
But for now, let me explain how easy Pasta with Ricotta is to prepare.
How to make Pasta with Ricotta:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and cook spaghetti or spaghettini until al dente.
Meanwhile place ricotta in a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir enough pasta water into the ricotta to create a smooth, creamy sauce. I add about 1 cup. Add salt, to taste, if needed.
Use a pasta scooper to place the spaghetti directly into your pasta bowl. Spoon the ricotta mixture over the spaghetti and stir until all strands are coated.
Serve immediately!
Tips and suggestions for Pasta with Ricotta:
- My mom always makes this dish with spaghettini but you may substitute spaghetti or a shorter pasta such as penne, rigatoni or fusilli.
- This recipe serves between 3-4 people, depending on portion size.
- Some varieties of ricotta are more dry than others. Be sure to reserve some pasta water to add as needed in order to have a creamy texture.
- Pasta with ricotta is best eaten right away. It does not easily retain it's creamy texture when reheated.
That's all there is to it. Please don't tell me that it's plain, or that it needs Parmigiano, black pepper, garlic or any other ingredient for that matter. You may add any other ingredient to this if you wish. But this is the way my mother has always made it and this is how I continue to make it. I don't mess with perfection!
Next time you have extra ricotta sitting in the fridge and you need to consume it quickly, try making pasta with ricotta and you may agree it's the easiest Italian comfort dish you'll ever make! Share photos of your dish by tagging me with#mangiabedda or @mangiabedda on Facebook or Instagram. And don't forget to PIN the recipe for later.
Buon appetito!
Pasta with Ricotta
There's no easier Italian comfort food dish than Pasta with Ricotta! Simply stir ricotta into a bowl of hot spaghetti and serve!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta with ricotta
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 211 kcal
- 1/2 lb spaghetti (about 225 grams)
- 475 grams whole milk ricotta (a little over 1 pound)
- salt to taste
-
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and boil spaghetti until al dente.
-
Meanwhile, place ricotta in a medium sized bowl. Scoop as much pasta water as needed to create a smooth, creamy sauce. I add about 1 cup. Add salt to taste if necessary.
-
Scoop the cooked spaghetti directly into 4 pasta bowls using a spaghetti scooper. Divide the ricotta mixture among the bowls. Stir the ricotta into the spaghetti and serve immediately.
- My mom always makes this dish with spaghettini but you may substitute spaghetti or a shorter pasta such as penne, rigatoni or fusilli.
- Some varieties of ricotta are more dry than others. Be sure to reserve some pasta water to add as needed in order to have a creamy texture.
- Pasta with ricotta is best eaten right away. It does not easily retain it's creamy texture when reheated.
- Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact portion size.
Calories: 211 kcal | Carbohydrates: 42 g | Protein: 7 g | Fat: 1 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Cholesterol: 1 mg | Sodium: 4 mg | Potassium: 126 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 2 g | Calcium: 12 mg | Iron: 1 mg
How Do I Make Pasta With Ricotta Cheese
Source: https://www.mangiabedda.com/pasta-with-ricotta/