Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Lemon Ricotta Parmesan Pasta with Spinach and Grilled Chicken


Always looking for some new recipes- I found this one last week and really wanted to try it. I've never made a sauce with ricotta before and this was easy peasy and fun to do. Make sure you keep a measuring cup of reserved pasta water off to the side. You will need to gradually add this in towards the end of the dish to keep the sauce from thickening up too much as it sits. 

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 pound of grilled chicken breasts cut into strips
  • 1 pound of dry linguine
  • 1 cup reserved pasta water
  • 8 oz of fresh baby spinach, steamed until just starting to wilt
  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • juice from 2 lemons
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 small container ( 1 1/2 cups) ricotta
  • 1/2 cup parm cheese plus more for top if needed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • halved cherry tomatoes 
Cook pasta in a large skillet. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water while draining.

Return pasta to skillet after draining and over medium high heat add- Olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, ricotta, parm cheese and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. 

Toss to evenly coat the pasta, add more pasta water as needed to thin the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss and cook for about 2 minutes until heated through.

Add in spinach and grilled chicken. Toss. Add cherry tomatoes for garnish.

I thought this was a great, fresh summer dish! We served it with salad and garlic bread. We had another couple over for dinner the night I made this, and they gave the thumbs up! The kiddos were actually gone that night, so I'm not sure what they would think of it. Cheers!










No comments:

Post a Comment