This recipe comes from the latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. Shane and I just loved it. It’s a quickie as-is, but you can cut your prep time further by purchasing the pre-washed baby spinach that comes in a box or bag, and not chopping it (see note at bottom of recipe).
• Fusili with Ricotta and Spinach •
from Cooks Illustrated Magazine
11oz (1 1/3 cups) whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1 lb fusili
1 lb baby spinach*
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 oz (1/2 cup) grated parmesan cheese plus more for sprinking
Mix 1 cup ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Set aside
Bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the baby spinach to the pot with the pasta and stir until wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain pasta and spinach and return them to the pot.
While pasta cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, nutmeg and cayenne in a saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/3 cup ricotta, cream, lemon zest and juice and 3/4 teaspoon salt until smooth.
Add ricotta-cream mixture and parmesan to the pasta and spinach. Let pasta rest, tossing frequently, until the sauce has thickened slightly and coats pasta, 2-4 minutes. Adjust consistency with reserved pasta cooking water if necessary. Transfer pasta to a serving platter (or leave it in the pot if you’re feeling casual) and dot evenly with reserved ricotta mixture. Serve with additional parmesan for sprinkling.
*The recipe says to chop the spinach, but since I used the little leaves that come in a box, I didn’t chop. This also made it easier for my 6 year old to pick out the dreaded green bits.
My mom used to improvise something like this when i was a kid, but it always involved fresh chopped tomatoes instead of spinach and you just tossed all the ingredients in with the hot pasta and voila, dinner. (you will remember my mom’s cooking as being quick, barely chopped and super minimal, or else it came from a box or a store, there was not a lot of time taken to prepare things…)
Sometimes, and i know this sounds gross, she subbed out the ricotta for cottage cheese instead with lots of ground black pepper and parmesan and mixed it all up and threw it in the pasta. it was not nearly as gross as it sounds.
This looks way yummier, and i like the idea of the sauteed base aromatics that you add the cheese to before you mix it all together.
Did you use fresh or dried fusilli?
This was regular old dried. I’m sure it would be amazing with fresh!
Thank you! Maybe I’ll try both and do a blind taste test. :-)