Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Peas
A bowl of pasta shells in a silky white sauce, bright green peas caught in the shells, lemon zest and crushed pistachios over the top, is what a good restaurant puts on its spring menu and calls "simple." It is. The sauce is ricotta stirred in a bowl with lemon and parmesan, cold, at 6:30. Hot pasta poured over it does the rest. You never cook the sauce, which means you cannot burn it, split it, or reduce it to glue. There is nothing to get wrong before 8:00.
- Cost for two
- $25
- Active time
- 15 min
- Done ahead
- 72%
- 1 hr 55 min before 7:30
- Hands off at
- 7:25
- T-5
Allergens: Milk (ricotta, parmesan) · Wheat (pasta) · Tree nuts (pistachios)·Serves: 2, generously·Oven: None (stovetop only)
Gear: One big pot with a lid, one large mixing bowl (it doubles as the serving bowl), a colander, tongs, a mug (for pasta water), a grater (any kind; the small holes), a zip-top bag, a phone timer.
Start at 5:30. Hands off from 7:25. Stove mode follows the clock while you cook.
The 7:30 Timeline
Read it bottom-up if you like; cook it top-down.
Done before she arrives
Aisle order
Shopping list
Produce
Lemons
2
Garlic
you use 1 clove
1 head
Fresh basil
1 clamshell
Dairy & Cheese
Whole-milk ricotta
15 oz; you use 1 cup
1 tub
Parmesan
you use about ¾ cup grated
1 wedge or tub
Pantry & Canned
Medium shells or orecchiette
16 oz; you use 12 oz. Shells catch the peas; that is why.
1 box
Shelled roasted pistachios
snack or nut aisle; you use a handful
1 bag
Frozen
Frozen peas
you use 1½ cups
1 bag
Pantry (you probably have these)
Salt, pepper, olive oil
At the stove
Method
- 1
Take the ricotta out of the fridge at 5:30. A cold sauce seizes when the hot pasta hits it; a room-temperature one goes silky.
- 2
Zest both lemons into the mixing bowl using the small holes of the grater. Rub the lemon over the holes and stop when you see white under the yellow. Take about 1 teaspoon of the zest back out and put it on a saucer for the top.
- 3
Add to the bowl: 1 cup ricotta, ½ cup grated parmesan, the juice of one lemon (squeeze it through your fingers to catch the seeds), 1 garlic clove grated on the small holes, 3 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and about 15 grinds of black pepper.
- 4
Stir with a spoon until it is one smooth, thick, pale cream, about 1 minute.
- 5
Taste a little on the spoon. It should taste too salty and too lemony on its own; the pasta will dilute it. If it tastes bland, add another pinch of salt now.
- 6
Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter.
- 7
Put a handful of pistachios in the zip-top bag, seal it, and press the bottom of the pot on it until they are coarse crumbs, not powder. Tip them onto the zest saucer.
- 8
Grate about ¼ cup more parmesan onto the saucer. Cover it.
- 9
At 7:00, fill the big pot three-quarters full with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, and put the lid on. Do not turn it on yet. Put 1½ cups frozen peas in the colander in the sink.
- 10
At 7:20, cut the second lemon into 4 wedges and set them with the saucer.
- 11
At 7:25, turn the burner under the pot to high with the lid on.
- 12
At 7:50, add 12 oz shells to the boiling water, stir once, and set a timer for 1 minute less than the box says.
- 13
At the timer, dip the mug into the pot and take ¾ cup of the cloudy water.
- 14
Drain the pasta into the colander over the frozen peas. Shake it twice. The peas are now hot.
- 15
Tip the pasta and peas into the bowl with the sauce. Pour in ¼ cup of the pasta water.
- 16
Turn everything over with tongs for 30 seconds. Look for a glossy, loose, creamy coating on every shell; if it looks dry or clumpy, add pasta water a splash at a time and keep turning.
- 17
Plate at once, with everything on the saucer going on top.
Is it done?
The check that needs no experience
Thermometer: not needed. Nothing here is meat. No thermometer: at the timer, bite a shell: firm but not chalky, with no white core in the thickest part. The peas are done when they are bright green and warm to a fingertip. The sauce is done when it flows off the tongs in a slow sheet rather than sitting on the pasta in clumps.
The #1 way to screw it up
The sauce turns into grainy white curds clinging to the pasta instead of a smooth cream, because the ricotta was fridge-cold, or there was not enough pasta water.
Recovery
More hot pasta water, 2 tablespoons at a time, turning with the tongs after each, until the curds loosen and the sauce goes glossy again; the heat and the starch bring it back. If you already emptied the pot, hot tap water plus a spoon of olive oil. Then pile the toppings on with a heavy hand. Under zest, pistachio, basil, and pepper, nobody can see the texture of a sauce.
- Too lemony
- more grated parmesan and a thread of olive oil on top, and it balances.
- The peas are cool at the table
- they are peas, they were cooked when they were frozen, and they are safe. Next time, drain slower so more boiling water runs over them.
The reveal
Plating
Pile the pasta high in the center of two wide shallow bowls with tongs, lifting so the peas show in the shells rather than hiding underneath. Scatter the pistachio crumbs and the reserved lemon zest over the peak, then the extra parmesan, then a few basil leaves torn from above so they land where they land. Finish with a heavy grind of black pepper, a thin thread of olive oil around the mound, and a lemon wedge on the rim.
Vegetarian swap
It already is. ASSUMPTION: most parmesan is made with animal rennet; if she is strict about that, buy a parmesan labeled vegetarian (BelGioioso marks theirs). Same bowl, same timeline. If she does not eat nuts, swap the pistachios for toasted breadcrumbs: 3 tablespoons panko stirred in a dry skillet on medium for 3 minutes until golden, done at 6:40, same crunch on top.
What to pour
- Wine
- a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Grigio, cold — Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, about $14, or Oyster Bay, about $12. Lemon and cheese want a wine with lemon in it.
- Beer
- a pilsner — Pilsner Urquell or Peroni.
- No alcohol
- sparkling water with a lemon wedge and two basil leaves crushed in the bottom of the glass.
Take this to the supermarket.
The First Bulletproof Dinner as a PDF, with the timelines. Free.