Pasta and Spinach With Ricotta and Herbs

Gatorbek's Note:

This recipe is courtesy of Chef #452940 's Stuffed Shells With Ricotta and Spinach (By Gertc96 & 2bleu) combined with my own inability to read instructions before proceeding to cook dinner. Fortunately, the result was tasty, so here it is - with their blessing!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ¾ lb pasta (I used penne)
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen spinach , thawed and drained
• 4 scallions , chopped
• ¼ cup fresh parsley , chopped
• ½ cup butter , softened
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 1 lemon, juice and zest of
• ¾ cup ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup heavy cream (or mascarpone cheese)
• salt , to taste
• black pepper , to taste

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in salted water according to package instructions.
2. In a large bowl mix remaining ingredients and set aside.
3. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
4. Thoroughly toss pasta with the cheese mixture and reserved cooking liquid. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[2Bleu]

We had this for dinner tonight using shells and it was a pretty good dish. We felt that the ricotta did not go too well with the spinach/pasta though and we would perhaps use cream cheese and sour cream for the sauce next time. Overall, we liked this dish and the butter was the perfect amount. :)

[Bonnie G #2]

Very good and easy to follow directions. Made this for dinner just as directed on one of my first attempts at cooking since arriving in Italy and DH proclaimed it a success. Thanks for posting.

[gertc96]

This was really good. When I first looked at the recipe I thought 1/2 cup butter was a lot, but it was the perfect amount. I also liked the addition of the pasta water. It gave this dish such a wonderful flavor. I do have to say though that I didn't serve mine immediatly. I let it sit for about 10 min. and let the ingredients marry with the pasta water and thicken up a bit. All my water was sitting at the bottom when I first added it but did thicken up nicely. I used spaghetti since that's what we had on hand. Next time, I'll also use about half the parsley. I found it a bit over powering. Will prepare again though. Made for photo tag.