Pasta With Spinach Ricotta Food

LEMON RICOTTA PASTA & SPINACH

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, make the ricotta sauce.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Season with 1/4 tsp of salt and a good pinch of pepper.
• Stir until well combined, taste and make sure you're happy with the seasoning.
• In the last minute of the pasta's cooking time, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then and add spinach to the pot. Stir well and push the leaves down to submerge them in water.
• After 1 minute, drain and return pasta and spinach to the same pot.
• Add the ricotta sauce and part of the reserved cooking water. Stir well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce, add more cooking water as needed, you want a smooth and creamy texture.
• Serve immediately and garnish with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges if desired (for extra freshly squeezed juice, but I leave it optional). Plus, I love adding a good pinch of red pepper flakes, you might give it a go. Enjoy!

LOW-FAT SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't brown.
• Add spinach and basil to the skillet and stir until wilted.
• Then add ricotta cheese and milk (and optional lemon juice and zest) to skillet and stir well.
• Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup or so of the cooking water.
• Combine cooked pasta and ricotta mixture in a large bowl. If it is too thick, add a bit of the cooking water to the mixture.
• Serve immediately with some freshly ground black pepper and an optional 1 teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese per serving.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Tomato sauce - Combine the tomatoes, garlic salt, chili flakes, basil, oregano and rosemary.
• Combine the cooked pasta with spinach, ricotta and nutmeg.
• Place the pasta in a dish and top with tomato sauce. Bake in oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Serve with fresh ground black pepper and parmasan.

PASTA ROUNDS WITH SPINACH-RICOTTA MOUSSE

Steps:

• In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, puree the ricotta, mascarpone, and half the spinach. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and reserve.
• In a small skillet or saucepan, melt the butter. Saute the remaining spinach just until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Coarsely chop and let cool.
• In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Cool and fold into the cheese mixture with the cooled spinach, mozzarella, goat cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Adjust the seasoning, to taste, and set the mousse aside.
• Cut the pasta dough into 4 pieces. On a surface dusted lightly with flour, with a pasta machine or by hand, roll out the first piece to a rectangle 20 inches long and 4 inches wide, keeping the remaining dough covered until needed. Trim the rectangle as needed to even the sides. Spread 1/4 of the mousse over the lower part of the length of the dough. Roll the dough over the filling, enclosing it completely, forming a 20-inch by 1-inch pasta roll. Cut the roll into approximately 1-inch pieces, yielding 20 slices. Repeat with the remaining dough and mousse.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and brush 8 (4-inch) tart pans with the butter. Arrange 10 of the pasta slices in a circle, cut-side up, in each pan (it will be a tight squeeze, but it can be done) and sprinkle each circle with grated Parmesan. Set the pans on a baking tray for easier handling and bake for 15 minutes. Invert each of the pasta rounds out of the tart pans onto the tray and continue to bake until both sides are golden brown. This should take another 15 to 20 minutes. The pasta will be crisp.
• To serve, heat the Tomato Garlic Basil Sauce, and spoon a little in the center of each of 10 warmed plates. Set 1 of the rounds on the sauce and serve immediately. Pass the remaining sauce in a small bowl.
• In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, egg yolks, salt, olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of water. Process until the dough begins to hold together, then stop the machine, and pinch the dough to test it. If it's too dry, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and process until it forms a moist ball. Turn out on a lightly floured smooth work surface and knead by hand, until a smooth ball is formed. Loosely wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Keep the other pieces covered in plastic while you roll out 1 piece at a time, by hand with a rolling pin or through the rollers of a pasta machine, stretching the dough to the desired thickness.
• If using a pasta machine, set the rollers at the widest opening. Flatten the first piece of dough into a thick strip no wider than the machine, to enable it to pass through the rollers. If necessary, dust the pasta very lightly with flour. Run the pasta through the machine. Fold in thirds, crosswise, and run through the machine again. Repeat this procedure at least twice more, or until the dough is smooth and somewhat elastic. Set the machine to the next smaller opening and run the dough through the rollers.
• Continue rolling and stretching the dough, using the smaller opening each time, until the next to the last or the last opening is reached, dusting lightly with flour only as necessary. (The strip of dough will be long. If you don't have enough space on your worktable, halfway through the rolling process cut the strip of dough in half and continue to work with each piece separately, keeping the unused dough covered).
• Adjust the cutting mechanism to the desired width, cut the noodles, and allow them to dry before cooking. A convenient way to dry pasta is to arrange the cut pasta on a pastry tray sprinkled with flour, preferably semolina flour. As 1 layer is completed, sprinkle flour over the noodles, place a piece of parchment paper over them, and continue layering with noodles and flour. Dry for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
• Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
• Prepare the herb tea: In a very small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add the herbs and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat and reduce to 1/4 cup. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes. Cool.
• In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, egg yolks, salt, olive oil, and herb tea. Process until the dough begins to hold together, then stop the machine, and pinch the dough to test it. If it's too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water and process until it forms a moist ball. Turn out on a lightly floured smooth work surface and knead by hand, forming a smooth ball. Loosely wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Keep the other pieces covered in plastic while you roll out 1 piece at a time, by hand with a rolling pin or through the rollers of a pasta machine, stretching the dough to the desired thickness.
• If using a pasta machine, set the rollers at the widest opening. Flatten the first piece of dough into a thick strip no wider than the machine, to enable it to pass through the rollers. If necessary, dust the pasta very lightly with flour. Run the pasta through the machine. Fold in thirds, crosswise, and run through the machine again. Repeat this procedure at least twice, or until the dough is smooth and somewhat elastic. Set the machine to the next smaller opening and run the dough through the rollers.
• Continue rolling and stretching the dough, using the smaller opening each time, until the next to the last or the last opening is reached, dusting lightly with flour only as necessary. (The strip of dough will be long. If you don't have enough space on your worktable, halfway through the rolling process cut the strip of dough in half and continue to work with each piece separately, keeping the unused dough covered).
• Adjust the cutting mechanism to the desired width, cut the noodles, and allow them to dry before cooking. A convenient way to dry pasta is to arrange the cut pasta on a pastry tray sprinkled with flour, preferably semolina flour. As 1 layer is completed, sprinkle flour over the noodles, place a piece of parchment paper over them, and continue layering with noodles and flour. Dry for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
• Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
• In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil. Over medium-high heat, saute the onion just until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the tomato paste, and then the tomatoes, cook 2 or 3 minutes, and pour in the chicken stock. Reduce until the sauce thickens, 15 to 20 minutes. Strain into a clean saucepan.
• Cut the basil leaves into a chiffonade* and stir into the sauce. Whisk in the butter, piece by piece, and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

BAKED PASTA SHELLS STUFFED WITH SPINACH AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a very large saucepan, gently fry the garlic and onion in the oil for about 5-10 minutes until translucent. Add the tomato purée and refill the cans with water about three-quarters full, giving them a shake to mop up any tomato. This will give you about 4 1/2 cups water. Add it to the pan. Bring the sauce to the boil and then partially cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.
• Soak the fresh spinach in the sink to get rid of any mud, drain, and then cook in just the water that's still clinging to the leaves until it has wilted down and cooked through, then drain well and chop roughly (you can just go at it with scissors while it's sitting in the colander). If you're using frozen chopped spinach, make sure - once it's thawed - that you've pressed out every last bit or water; you can.
• Empty the ricotta into a bowl, add the eggs and then grate in about 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) of the Parmesan. Add the spinach when it is cool, squeezing out (again) any excess water with your hands, then stir everything together and season it well with the nutmeg and salt and pepper.
• Cook the pasta shells in a large pan of water, for about 5 minutes once they have come back to the boil, then drain and leave them to get cool enough for you to stuff them without burning your fingers. Tip the shells into a dish, of approximately 15 x 13 inches, so that they lie in a single layer, then fill each shell with a heaped teaspoon of the spinach and ricotta filling. Ladle the tomato sauce over the pasta, and grate over the remaining Parmesan.
• Bake for about 20 - 30 minutes, by which time the pasta will be tender and the light tomato sauce hot and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let stand for a while to cool down slightly before serving.

ONE-POT SPINACH, TOMATO, AND RICOTTA PASTA

Steps:

• Combine tomatoes, spinach, broth, water, and garlic in a large pot or Dutch oven. Cover and cook until the broth comes to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
• Uncover and add the pasta. Stir pasta until it softens and is submerged in the liquid. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in ricotta cheese and season with salt and pepper. Stir and allow ricotta cheese to heat through. Top with Parmesan cheese before serving.

PASTA WITH SPINACH AND RICOTTA CHEESE RECIPE

Steps:

• Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt.
• Meanwhile, cook and stir bacon in large skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Discard all but 2 Tbsp. drippings from skillet. Add onions and garlic to reserved drippings; cook 2 to 3 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently.
• Add ricotta, milk and Parmesan to onion mixture; cook 2 min., stirring frequently. Stir in spinach; cook on medium-low heat 2 to 3 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, crushed pepper and bacon; mix well.
• Drain pasta. Add to spinach mixture; mix lightly.

BAKED PASTA WITH SPINACH, RICOTTA, AND PROSCIUTTO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Cook pasta a few minutes less than package instructions suggest.
• Cut prosciutto into thin strips.
• In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss pasta with spinach, half of prosciutto, milk, ricotta, and garlic.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Top with remaining prosciutto and Parmesan.
• Bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes.