Creamy Amalfi Lemon Pasta
This is one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever make. It’s fast, it’s fresh, and it delivers deeply satisfying, umami flavors with herbaceous notes and just a bit of heat. We love the way it clings to the outside of the rigatoni and moves through the big, wide holes of the noodle. You get creaminess in every bite.
We recommend using full-fat ricotta cheese for this dish, since the part-skim kind can impart an almost grainy texture. Or swap in some cottage cheese instead of ricotta for even creamier sauce. To make Parmesan curls, simply run a vegetable peeler down the long side of a wedge of Parmesan cheese. Make extra, since you’ll surely need to taste test one or two.
12 ounce package rigatoni
1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus more to garnish
5 ounce bag baby spinach
Zest and juice of one lemon, zest divided
Small container (14-15 ounces) ricotta cheese
Handful of basil leaves, torn, plus whole ones to garnish
2 Tablespoons Amalfi Seasoning Blend
Black Pepper Coarse Grind and Parmesan curls, to garnish
1. Cook pasta to almost al dente in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Reserve about a cup of pasta water. Drain the rest of the pasta and set aside.
2. Pour olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add spinach to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Put in half the lemon zest and heat for one more minute, until zest is fragrant. Drop heat to medium-low.
3. Add ricotta cheese to the spinach along with about half of the reserved pasta water, all the lemon juice, basil leaves, and the Amalfi Seasoning Blend. Stir until well combined. Then stir in pasta and heat through. Add more pasta water if the cheese sauce seems too thick.
4. Remove from heat. Taste, adjust salt or seasonings as needed. Divide between 4 bowls, and garnish with whole basil leaves, remaining lemon zest, Coarse Black Salt, and Parmesan curls.
