Pasta with Lemon Zest, Ricotta and Arugula

Is there anything more delicious and delectable as ricotta cheese? Okay, maybe, mascarpone cheese, but we didn’t use mascarpone cheese in this recipe so ricotta is the star of this post. Ricotta is versatile and delicious. It is used in Italian savory dishes such as lasagna, ravioli, calzones and pizza as well as desserts like cannoli, cheesecake, Easter Pie and the most scrumptious cookies typically coated with an almond glaze and multi-colored sprinkles.

Foodie made a dish that called for ricotta and she decided to make it fresh!

She is so ambitious.

It’s actually pretty easy but you do need a cooking thermometer to make it correctly.

I don’t have cooking thermometer.

Yet.

Pasta with Lemon Zest, Ricotta and Arugula
Adapted from the sassyradish.com

Ricotta
Ingredients
4 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat milk, cream and salt to 190° then remove from heat. Add the lemon juice. Stir gently and let sit for 10 minutes until curdling occurs. Place a colander in a bowl lined with several sheets of cheesecloth and gently ladle milk into the lined colander. Let the mixture sit for 1/2 hour to one hour.

Then she used the home-made ricotta in the pasta recipe.

Pasta
Ingredients
Sea salt
1 pound wide egg pasta such as papardelle...Foodie used spinach noodles
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 Lemons
3 cups baby arugula
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.

While the pasta cooks, grate a generous handful of parmesan into a large serving bowl. It looked like Foodie grated about 1 ½ cups. Zest the lemons into the same bowl and add the arugula. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Juice 1 of the lemons and reserve.

2. When the pasta is done, drain it and transfer to the bowl with the cheese, lemon, and arugula. Working quickly, sprinkle the lemon juice and some pasta water. Add the ricotta and begin to fold all the ingredients together. Keep folding until the pasta is coated with the sauce, the cheese has melted, and the arugula has wilted a bit. Season with pepper and taste. Add more lemon juice or pepper if desired. If the sauce is too gloppy, add a bit more pasta water and mix again. Drizzle with a hint of olive oil before serving.

We also had a field green salad served in the lovely traveling salad bowl and angel food cake with oranges and Chambord for dessert. We also polished off two bottles of wine. I ran three miles this morning to compensate.