Can you add basil to pasta?

A delicious and fresh tasting pasta sauce. The fresh basil added at the end is essential . This sauce can be left chunky (which I prefer) or blended in a food processor to a smooth sauce. Serve spooned over cooked pasta with plenty of parmesan cheese.

What do you eat lemon ricotta with?

This savory cheese spread is seasoned with garlic, herbs, Romano cheese and a hint of lemon zest, It would be delicious served with crusty bread, crackers, Air Fryer Pita Chips or sliced fresh vegetables . If you like Savory Baked Lemon Ricotta Cheese, you might also like Sun Dried Tomato Baked Ricotta.

Does store bought ricotta need to be drained?

Why do I have to drain ricotta? Because otherwise there'd be cheese water in your ricotta (ew!) and if you used it in a recipe your dish would come out soggy.

Do you add basil at the beginning or end of a sauce?

Dried herbs and spices should be added at the beginning of the cook time so that they have time to bloom. Fresh herbs, like basil or oregano, should be stirred in at the end , before you serve the sauce.

Why do Italians use basil so much?

Basil brings freshness to any dish , and pairs extremely well with cheeses, tomatoes, garlic, and lemon. It is used in countless Italian dishes, perhaps most famously in the Caprese salad. Its antibacterial properties also bring health benefits to the table.

Do you eat ricotta cheese by itself?

It can also be eaten by itself , perhaps accompanied by honey or jam, or spread on fresh, warm bread. Made from the leftover curds from cheese making, ricotta is a prime example of the Italian tradition of never throwing anything away.

What is the best way to eat ricotta cheese?

You can smear ricotta on toast and then top it with almost anything for an easy meal. Try it with corn and scallions, or pesto and tomatoes, or a fried egg. You can also eat it for dessert: top with strawberries and honey or banana and nutella.

Can you eat ricotta cheese without cooking it?

For a quick snack, toast a piece of bread, spread some ricotta cheese on it, and top it with pears, honey, and almonds . Feel free to experiment with the toppings and use another nut, fruit, and seasoning combinations.

What do you eat with Trader Joe's lemon curd?

Slather it on toast or stir it into yogurt. Drizzle it on pancakes, or ice cream, or cheesecake . If you want to get fancy, whip up some heavy cream and fold it into the Lemon Curd for an almost-effortless tart or layer cake filling worthy of a royal afternoon tea.

Recipe: Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil (2024)

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Sara Kate Gillingham

Sara Kate is the founding editor of The Kitchn. She co-founded the site in 2005 and has since written three cookbooks. She is most recently the co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook, published in October 2014 by Clarkson Potter.

updated May 7, 2019

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Recipe: Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil (1)

A quick recipe for pasta tossed in a no-cook ricotta sauce that's flavored with lots of lemon and fresh basil.

Serves6Prep5 minutesCook10 minutes

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Recipe: Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil (2)

I learned this treatment for pasta from an old neighbor of mine who took his cooking very seriously and made even the simplest meal seem like a dinner party. Music gets changed, co*cktails are poured, stories told; there’s a lot of gesticulating.

But really, all there is to this dish is boiling the pasta, tossing the sauce ingredients into a big bowl, and then tossing in the drained pasta. It’s a stress-free party dish, or even just your dinner tonight.

This pasta can be pulled together in as long as it takes the pasta to cook; between 9 and 13 minutes, depending on the shape you use. Because it is so simple and the uncooked sauce has so few ingredients, using the best-quality ingredients you can find makes a difference — especially when it comes to the ricotta. If you can avoid the skim-milk and commercially made versions, do. If you have time, you can even make your own.

The pasta shapes that best complement this sauce are small-shaped pieces, like rotini, penne, fusilli, and gemelli; these shapes hold the sauce. Again, quality makes a big difference here. Now’s the time to spring for something better than plain-wrap spaghetti. However, if it’s all you have, you’ll still be eating well.

Tester’s Notes

I am on board for anything that involves ricotta, so I was thrilled to finally give this recipe a try. It’s as simple as you’d think it is, and that’s what makes it so special. I was able to assemble everything in under 15 minutes, and yet sitting down to a bowl of this pasta still felt special and a bit fancy.

Based on previous comments, I did lower the amount of ricotta cheese so that the pasta wasn’t swimming in sauce, and I decreased the amount of olive oil to just a finishing drizzle, as the dish is plenty luxe and rich without the original couple of tablespoons.

It’s worth it to use good-quality ricotta here, so try to seek out the best you can find. I also used Pecorino Romano cheese instead of Parmesan, which is a bit saltier and nuttier, and it gave the pasta a bit more dimension (although if all you have is Parmesan, this dish will still be great).

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

1 pound
dried short pasta, such as gemelli, fusilli, penne, or rotini
1 1/2 cups
ricotta cheese, preferably freshly made
1 cup
finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese
Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
Juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup
loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
Good-quality olive oil, for serving

Instructions

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
Place the ricotta, Pecorino or Parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper in a large heatproof bowl and stir to combine. When there are about 2 minutes remaining in the pasta's cooking time, place the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta mixture. You should see it loosening as it warms.
When the pasta is al dente, drain it well. Add it to the bowl of ricotta and mix well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce. Add the basil and red pepper flakes, if using, toss, and serve immediately. Drizzle olive oil over each serving.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Cheese

dinner

easy

herbs

italian

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