Easy Lemon Ricotta Pasta

This creamy, fresh-tasting Lemon Ricotta Pasta is an easy recipe to make when you want something quick and nutritious for dinner!

I have recently discovered an obsession for ricotta cheese. I love how it pairs well with sweet or savoury flavours and that it’s actually a pretty good source of protein! 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese offers 7 grams of protein, in addition to vitamins and minerals like calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium and more.

This tasty pasta dish gets its creamy texture from ricotta cheese blended together with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and parmesan. It’s really simple to make, but truly so delicious to eat! Mix in some vegetables (I used shaved asparagus) and you’ve got a well-rounded, balanced meal!

Lemon Ricotta Pasta Ingredients:

To make this pasta dish, you’ll need:

• Pasta of choice – I like to use a long pasta like fettuccine, linguine, or spaghetti.
• Ricotta cheese – this is what gives us the creaminess, and it adds protein!
• Olive oil – extra-virgin if you have it!
• Lemon juice & lemon zest – for that fresh lemon flavour.
• Garlic -what’s a pasta dish without garlic anyways?
• Parmesan cheese – both for the sauce and for serving.
• Salt and pepper – to really bring out the flavours.
• Asparagus – or another green veggie like spinach, kale, or broccoli.
• Pasta water – meaning, the water you cook the pasta in. You’ll need to save about 1/2 cup.

How to Make Lemon Ricotta Pasta:

Step 1: Cook Pasta

Start by cooking the pasta according to package directions. I like to use whole wheat pasta, but you can use regular pasta or another variety that you like. For this recipe, you’ll need about 375 grams of dry pasta, and I like to use a longer pasta variety like fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti.

Don’t forget to reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining the cooked pasta!

Step 2: Make Lemon Ricotta Pasta Sauce

The lemon ricotta pasta sauce can be made by mixing the ingredients together by hand in a bowl, or by blending everything together in a blender or food processor. I like to use a blender as I feel this creates a creamier result.

You can make the sauce by combining the ricotta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper together in a blender, food processor, or bowl. Make sure everything is well-combined!

Once the sauce is made, transfer it to a large pan on the stove and turn the burner on to medium-heat, starting to warm the sauce.

Step 3: Shave Asparagus

In this recipe we’re using shaved asparagus. To start, wash asparagus stalks (you’ll need about 7 or 8 large ones). Using a vegetable peeler, shave the asparagus stalks to create thin asparagus strips. Continue until you have approx. 1 generous cup of shaved asparagus.

As the sauce begins to warm up on the stove, add the shaved asparagus or other vegetables and stir into the sauce. Continue to stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes until everything is warm and the asparagus is coated.

Step 4: Mix it All Together and Serve

Add the cooked pasta to the pan with asparagus and lemon ricotta sauce. This is where you’ll also add up to 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water and stir vigorously into the pasta. The starch in the pasta water helps the sauce coat the pasta noodles better!

Once this is done, garnish the pasta with additional parmesan cheese, lemon zest and pepper (optional). Enjoy!

More Pasta Recipes You’ll Love:

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also love these other recipes of mine!

• Summer Tomato Basil Pasta
• Creamy Kale & Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
• Creamy Pumpkin Pasta with Spinach
• Easy Italian Pasta Salad
• Pesto Pasta Salad

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