Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Chili Oil is a weeknight star! Easy to make and fresh, this pasta is only as difficult as boiling noodles since you don't have to cook the sauce. The pasta comes out creamy because of the egg yolks, pasta water, and ricotta, and it's contrasted nicely by the zesty lemon.
I hope you like spicy food because this recipe has a kick! You can always add less than recommended if you can't handle spice, but if you like a mild amount, this one gives the back of your throat a nice tickle. When I made it for dinner the other night, I paired it with a light salad (a creamy one to balance out the spice) and some garlic bread. The best part: I had dinner on the table in 30 minutes!
I got this recipe from the subscription to Delish that my boyfriend’s mom gifted me for my birthday. There are a ton of tasty and easy recipes on their site so I like to peruse it on my lunch breaks at work so I can go grab what I need for dinner after I leave for the day. When I found this recipe I thought it would be a perfect weeknight dinner. I followed the steps for their Red Chili Ricotta Pasta pretty closely, but I did make a few minor tweaks. The most significant change I made was to the breadcrumbs. I liked the texture of small, cubed, and toasted bread that were tossed in butter and thyme as a final topping for the pasta instead of the pulsed and fine bread crumbs that the recipe suggests.
Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Chili Oil
Servings: 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
3 slices of white bread or sourdough, finely cubed
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 lb Fusilli pasta
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup ricotta
2 egg yolks
Zest of one lemon
1/2 cup reserved pasta water
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finely dice the bread into small cubes and place it on a baking sheet.
In a small frying pan set to medium heat, melt the butter. Once melted, turn the heat off, stir in the thyme, and pour the butter mixture over the bread. Toss to evenly coat. Spread the bread out on the sheet pan and bake until golden and crispy, about 15 minutes. Set those aside until you are ready to serve the pasta.
While the bread toasts, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In the same pan you melted the butter in, add the olive oil and cook on medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and cook until it's fragrant, stopping before the garlic browns or burns. Turn off the heat and stir in the chili flakes. Set the hot chili oil aside.
In a medium bowl, add the ricotta, lemon zest, egg yolks, and about half of the chili oil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to your liking. Combine the mixture well and set it aside.
Next, add the fusilli to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. Don't forget to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water right before straining the noodles during this step!
Add the pasta back to the pot along with the ricotta mixture and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to combine. The pasta should be creamy, especially with the addition of the pasta water. (I like it extra creamy so I added all the pasta water.) Add more or less of the pasta water to your liking.
Finally, add the pasta to a serving dish or bowl and top with the prepared breadcrumbs. Then, drizzle the rest of the chili oil on top and finish with a few sprigs of the thyme. Serve while hot and enjoy!
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