One-Pot Pasta With Ricotta And Lemon #YUM

Making Lemon Ricotta Rigatoni

Preparing one-pot pasta with ricotta and lemon can be quite challenging or straightforward. The results you get will depend on the procedure that you follow. Making this elegant dish does not require special skills. However, the process needs a kind of art that you will easily grasp from this article. 

The Beauty of Lemon Ricotta Pasta

The creamy, refreshing one-pot pasta with ricotta and lemon is quite effortless. Several reasons define the beauty of this meal. Most of these reasons come from the process of preparation. Below are the main reasons that define the beauty of lemon ricotta pasta:

You just need a few ingredients

When preparing lemon ricotta rigatoni, you need just a handful of ingredients. In most cases, you require a maximum of fewer than ten ingredients. The equipment you need for cooking is just a few as well. The beauty of using a few cooking ingredients may also mean a low budget to you. Such a fact proves to be an advantage to those who plan on small budgets in the kitchen matters.

It takes a few minutes

After adding all the ingredients, preparing lemon ricotta pasta relatively takes very few minutes. On average, you should only use 20 minutes in total time. This fact means that after this period, your food will be ready. A short cooking period has many advantages for those who don’t have much kitchen time. 

Ricotta and lemon pair very nicely

You need to know that lemon doesn’t just go with any dish or snack. Despite that fact, some meals and snacks create a proper combination with lemon. For example, pasta dishes with ricotta cheese lie right in the middle of these meals. Other combinations that go right well are pancakes, muffins, etc. 

Additional nutrient benefits from spinach

Some traces of green in pasta always prove to have a lot of benefits. The health benefit comes because of the presence of vitamins in the spinach. 

Apart from the positive health impact, the presence of spinach also brings in some addition of color to the whole meal. Almost everyone loves some green color addition to pasta. For that reason adding some greenery to all ricotta pasta recipes bring a lot of positivity. 

The beauty of lemon ricotta pasta spreads even further when you look deeper into it. With lemon lining up among the top ingredients, you can be sure of acquiring many benefits from it. The presence of lemon only in the whole meal brings about a bright sunshine sensation to your mouth.

For this reason, you can be sure of having a thrill. This same fact equally applies to lemon butter ricotta and zucchini pasta.

Apart from enjoying the above thrilling factor of lemon, be sure of having lots of health benefits from this ingredient. The combination of lemon and spinach brings out quite many health benefits. These health advantages come from vitamin C in the combination of spinach and lemon. 

The main advantages of this combination are:

1. It helps to control body weight by reducing fats.
2. It supports the health of the heart.
3. It guards a person against anemia.
4. It prevents kidney stones from building up inside the kidneys.
5. It improves the human digestion process due to the high presence of fiber. 
6. It reduces the risk of getting cancer. 
7. Proper management of diabetes.
8. Good control of blood pressure.
9. Proper management of asthma.
10. Good health of the bones.
11. Healthy hair and skin.

Recipe-One Pot Pasta With Ricotta and Lemon

Time: 20 minutes

Serving size: 6

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Nutritional Facts

• Carbohydrates: 0.13 pounds (61 grams)
• Fat: 0.05 pounds (23 grams)
• Protein: 0.04 pounds (19 grams)
• Calories: 521 Kcal
• Saturated fat: 0.01 pounds (8 grams)
• Cholesterol: 0.0012 ounces (36 miligrams)
• Monounsaturated fat: 0.024 pounds (11 grams)
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.0044 pounds (2 grams) 
• Sodium: 0.009 ounces (283 milligrams)
• Sugar: 0.0001 ounces (3 milligrams)
• Fiber: 0.006 pounds (3 grams)
• Potassium: 0.014 ounces (417 milligrams)
• Vitamin A: 2979 IU 
• Calcium: 0.007 ounces (199 milligrams)
• Iron: 7.05e-5 ounces (2 milligrams)
• Vitamin C: 0.0004 ounces (12 milligrams)

The Cooking Equipment 

The kitchen equipment that you need for making one-pot pasta with ricotta and lemon are:

1. One large bowl.
2. Mixing bowl.
3. A few measuring cups and spoons. 
4. Colander.

The Cooking Ingredients

To make this mouth-watering meal, you first need to have several ingredients. Below are the main ingredients that you need for one pot of pasta with ricotta:

• One pound (453.5 grams) of short pasta.
• ⅔ cup fresh parmesan that has gone through proper shredding.
• 0.93 pounds (425.2 grams) of whole milk ricotta cheese.
• Lemon juice has to be completely fresh. Juice from a single lemon fruit is enough.
• ⅓ cup olive oil.
• One tablespoon of lemon zest.
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves in minced form.
• ½ teaspoon sea salt.
• ½ teaspoon seasoning, Italian in nature. 
• 6 oz baby spinach that has gone through proper chopping.
• 1-½ cup pasta water. 

Directions 

Below is the guide you need to follow in coming up with the best pasta with ricotta and lemon: 

1. Warm some water inside the oven since the warm water will be responsible for getting your pasta ready. 
2. Mix your olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, parmesan, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and garlic as your water boils. 
3. Stir this mixture together. In the end, you need to get a pretty thick mixture. This thickness of the mixture will not last long. That fact comes because immediately after adding the pasta water, the mixture will turn creamy. These results will bring out a creamy lemon ricotta sauce in the end. 
4. Scoop out one and a half cups of pasta water. Make sure that you perform this procedure before draining out the pasta thoroughly. The water you get here will play an essential role in the source. To completely be on the safe side, you may choose to scoop out at least two cups. 
5. Use the instructions on your pasta packaging to boil it al dente. 
6. Pour out the pasta into a large colander.
7. Add some spinach to the pasta inside the colander. This step will allow the spinach to wilt properly. 
8. Take the same pot for boiling pasta and put in one cup of pasta water. Remember that this pasta water is what you got to put aside earlier. 
9. Heat the mixture. Before heating, make sure that you set the heating temperature to medium-low. This heat should not be much more since it may ruin it. 
10. Perform proper whisking of the sauce. In the end, you should achieve a creamy and smooth mixture. 
11. Add in more water. The amount of water you continue to add in depends on the level of thickness that you desire at the end. 
12. Make additional spinach and pasta to the pot. This pot should contain the lemon ricotta sauce. Stir this mixture properly until it gets to form an even coat. 
13. Add additional pepper and more salt to achieve an even better taste. At this time, you may also add some garlic. Finally, because this is the right moment for seasoning, do not hesitate to put in some amount of lemon zest. The lemon zest will bring a lemon flavor to your final lemon ricotta rigatoni.
14. Add additional pasta water. Remember that you make this addition only when the pasta sauce looks thicker. Olive oil can also thin it out quite a little. 
15. Make additional adjustments in seasoning or more before removing the final meal from the heat. 
16. Serve the lemon ricotta rigatoni meal while it is still warm. You may also add some simple salad on the side to increase the natural taste. This side salad should be arugula or a mixture of several greens.
17. Keep any leftovers of lemon ricotta rigatoni inside the refrigerator for up to five days or less. If you store this meal for any longer period, it will go bad. While the food is inside the fridge, it may not go rancid quickly, but it will lose its original taste. For this reason, do not store it for longer periods.

When you take out the lemon ricotta rigatoni from the fridge for eating, be sure to warm it up. Then, the meal will not melt and lose its original texture. You will get these results because ricotta cheese is a special kind of cheese that does not melt when it undergoes heating at normal cooking temperatures.

Our Top Lemon Ricotta Rigatoni Tips and Tricks

Several tips and tricks that come in when making lemon ricotta cheese pasta. These tips and tricks are handy for achieving a delightful meal. Therefore, it is imperative to keep these facts in mind for such a reason. Below are the main tips and tricks for you to observe:

1. Never forget the pasta water in reserve: In this recipe, many people tend to forget about the pasta water in reserve. However, you need to keep in mind that nothing else can get to work as properly as that starchy water. For this reason, try recalling it inside your mind every time you think of preparing the lemon ricotta rigatoni. 
2. Use ready-to-go pasta: A ready-to-go pasta can be beneficial, especially when you do not have much time. Using this option can help you save around 10 minutes of your time. 
3. Add salt to the pasta water: You need to improve the pasta water slightly by adding a little salt before using it. According to Italians, your pasta water should be as salty as the sea. This form of pasta water will be very beneficial for the seasoning part. You will not need to add more salt since your pasta will soak naturally into the salt. The salt inside the pasta water also plays a significant role in thickening the sauce later. This salt speeds up the thickening process.
4. Add oil or milk when serving lemon ricotta rigatoni on the following day: Leaving some leftovers after enjoying it is normal. You can store the leftover of this meal and feed on it the next day. However, before you retake this meal, you need to heat it. When heating the meal, splash some olive oil on it. Cream and milk will also work out the same way. The addition of cream or olive oil will help restore the natural taste of the lemon ricotta rigatoni. 
5. Do not rinse your pasta: Important starches will all go to waste if you rinse your pasta. When it comes to sauce thickening, the presence of starch always helps a lot. Rinsing the pasta also takes away heat. You would not want your pasta to be cold before tossing it with the sauce. 
6. Do not cook the pasta for a long period: Remember to boil the pasta al dente. The natural biting sensation should remain. Taste the texture at the end. This move will help you to be sure fully. 
7. Do not add the basil until the end of the cooking: Basil brings a beautiful flavor to the whole meal. For such a reason, do not mix it up inside when still cooking. Instead, to properly use basil, add it to the meal before eating. This move will guarantee you a full, rich flavor. 
8. Properly season to taste: Add some salt or pepper until you get the perfect taste of your desire. 

Add-ins Alternatives and Substitutes

• Be sure to put inside several Italian sausages. This addition plays a vital role in bringing your lemon ricotta rigatoni to the next level.
• Use arugula or kale instead of other greens.
• Make use of pine nuts and dry tomatoes. These ingredients will provide a mouth-watering effect. 
• To acquire more protein from your lemon ricotta pasta, add chicken cooked in white wine to your pasta. This chicken should be in cube form. 

The Final Say

With all the information in this article, you can now get to your kitchen and begin preparing the mouth-watering lemon ricotta rigatoni.