This is an incredibly easy pasta dish from America’s Test Kitchen that features the classic combination of spinach and ricotta, without the extra work of stuffing shells or ravioli. It makes a great lunch for 4 people, and while the ingredients are simple,…
What you'll need
Ingredients
12 ounces (1 ½ cups) Bellwether Farms whole-milk ricotta cheese, or your favorite artisan ricotta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound fusilli
1 pound (16 cups) baby spinach, chopped coarse
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
The method
Directions
01
Grated zest of 1 lemon zest, plus 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
02
Whisk 1 cup ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl until smooth. You may need to add a little more olive oil to get a smooth consistency; set aside.
03
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente (cooking according to box instructions, usually 11-12 min). Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Stir spinach into pot with pasta and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain pasta and spinach and return them to pot.
04
As the pasta cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, nutmeg, and cayenne in saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining ricotta, heavy cream, lemon zest and juice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt until smooth; set aside.
05
Add ricotta-cream mixture from step 3 and Parmesan to pasta and toss to combine. Let pasta rest, tossing frequently, until sauce has thickened slightly and coats pasta, 2 to 4 minutes, adjusting consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Serve the pasta in a wide bowl or plate and add a dollop of the ricotta from step 1. Sprinkle each serving with extra Parmesan, extra lemon zest and a drizzle of high qulaity extra virgin olive oil.
This vibrant, flavor-packed dish is perfect for easy entertaining or effortless weeknight dinners. Juicy, marinated chicken roasts atop a bed of colorful vegetables—artichokes, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and lemon slices—infused with briny capers and fresh…
This quick and easy meatball recipe from Cook’s Country utilizes a few shortcuts that make it an easy recipe for weeknight cooking. Their technique of simmering the meatballs in the tomato sauce in the ambient heat of the oven cooks them evenly without requ…
This is a quick and easy way to cook chicken cutlets. As with most coatings, it helps to have everything lined up in order, to make the assembly quick and easy. You can easily do a salad version by adding some arugula to the cherry tomatoes.
Fold in half along dotted line, blank sides facing in
Fold in half along dotted line, blank sides facing in
Cook Like James
Pasta with Spinach and Fresh Ricotta
Prep
Cook
Yield
This is an incredibly easy pasta dish from America’s Test Kitchen that features the classic combination of spinach and ricotta, without the extra work of stuffing shells or ravioli. It makes a great lunch for 4 people, and while the ingredients are simple,…
Ingredients
12 ounces (1 ½ cups) Bellwether Farms whole-milk ricotta cheese, or your favorite artisan ricotta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound fusilli
1 pound (16 cups) baby spinach, chopped coarse
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
Cook Like James · The method
Directions
1
Grated zest of 1 lemon zest, plus 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
2
Whisk 1 cup ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl until smooth. You may need to add a little more olive oil to get a smooth consistency; set aside.
3
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente (cooking according to box instructions, usually 11-12 min). Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Stir spinach into pot with pasta and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain pasta and spinach and return them to pot.
4
As the pasta cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, nutmeg, and cayenne in saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining ricotta, heavy cream, lemon zest and juice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt until smooth; set aside.
5
Add ricotta-cream mixture from step 3 and Parmesan to pasta and toss to combine. Let pasta rest, tossing frequently, until sauce has thickened slightly and coats pasta, 2 to 4 minutes, adjusting consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Serve the pasta in a wide bowl or plate and add a dollop of the ricotta from step 1. Sprinkle each serving with extra Parmesan, extra lemon zest and a drizzle of high qulaity extra virgin olive oil.
Cook Like James
Pasta with Spinach and Fresh Ricotta
Prep
Cook
Yield
This is an incredibly easy pasta dish from America’s Test Kitchen that features the classic combination of spinach and ricotta, without the extra work of stuffing shells or ravioli. It makes a great lunch for 4 people, and while the ingredients are simple,…
Ingredients
12 ounces (1 ½ cups) Bellwether Farms whole-milk ricotta cheese, or your favorite artisan ricotta
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound fusilli
1 pound (16 cups) baby spinach, chopped coarse
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
Directions
1
Grated zest of 1 lemon zest, plus 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
2
Whisk 1 cup ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl until smooth. You may need to add a little more olive oil to get a smooth consistency; set aside.
3
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente (cooking according to box instructions, usually 11-12 min). Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Stir spinach into pot with pasta and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain pasta and spinach and return them to pot.
4
As the pasta cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, nutmeg, and cayenne in saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and whisk in remaining ricotta, heavy cream, lemon zest and juice, and 3/4 teaspoon salt until smooth; set aside.
5
Add ricotta-cream mixture from step 3 and Parmesan to pasta and toss to combine. Let pasta rest, tossing frequently, until sauce has thickened slightly and coats pasta, 2 to 4 minutes, adjusting consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Serve the pasta in a wide bowl or plate and add a dollop of the ricotta from step 1. Sprinkle each serving with extra Parmesan, extra lemon zest and a drizzle of high qulaity extra virgin olive oil.
