Ricotta cheese, egg, and a secret ingredient come together to create a sauce that is even creamier than those made with heavy cream, which may often be excessively thick and filling. Come on, I’m trying to conserve space for the tiramisu, you know. Ricotta imparts a cheese tanginess to this sauce that heavy cream does not. I adore adding heaps of ricotta salata, a wonderful summer cheese, to this pasta.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 small portions |
Ingredients
- 8 ounces orecchiette pasta
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- ¼ cup pesto, or to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook orecchiette according to package directions, reducing time by 1 minute, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese, egg, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Mix until a paste forms. Add 1/3 cup hot pasta water and whisk well. Repeat with another 1/3 cup pasta water.
- Transfer pasta to a saucepan using a strainer, letting most, but not all, the water drain off. Reserve cooking water. Add the sauce mixture and turn heat to medium. Cook and stir until sauce thickens enough to coat the pasta evenly, about 2 minutes. Add more pasta water if sauce gets too thick. Stir in pesto. Taste and season as desired. Transfer pasta to a warm bowl.
- Use any shape of pasta you desire.
- I added some pesto to mine this time, but that could have been some sun-dried tomato paste, or roasted chiles, or caramelized mushroom, or diced-up, leftover grilled veggies, or…you get the idea.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 297 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 52 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 617 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is a very delicious pasta sauce and a welcome break from the heavy cream. I used housemade ricotta and pesto. Since the wetness of the ricotta and seasoning of the pesto vary greatly by brand, it was important to taste for seasoning as I added more cayenne, pesto and salt to taste. I also added toasted pine nuts as I had them on hand. I will definitely be making this again and glad to have another recipe to use up ricotta. Thanks Chef John!
Easy and good. That said, adding the suggested 3tbs of pesto or similar strong mixin is a must. The lemon zest alone is not enough. A bit more salt after adding pasta water may be needed.
It was really good, we used Bumbola (bumble bee shaped pasta). I would have liked it a little thicker, could use ricotta AND heavy cream! It is delicious though.
The first few times that I made this the sauce was dry and grainy. I watched the video again and noticed that the pasta was steaming when transferred to the pan, but wasn’t steaming when the sauce was added. So, after getting the sauce thin and creamy (not a problem) I transferred my pasta and let it cool just enough to stop steaming. I added the sauce and stirred it while turning on my burner to medium low. It thickened up a bit and stayed nice & creamy. Perfect!
Quick and easy. I will definitely make again.
Sooo good! Used fresh store bought prosciutto tortellini instead of dry pasta, and added broccolini in the last minute of the pasta boil. This is a keeper!
not that creamy but really good.
Definitely will make it again, I added garlic to mine.
This is amazing. You need to be extra careful to whisk quickly and temper well, and don’t go crazy on the heat once you’ve added the sauce to the pan. I’ve made it with pesto, romesco and curry spices and it’s always great. Girlfriend loves it.
perhaps I did something wrong? the ricotta just cooked into microscopic curds, no creaminess…. 🙁
I was excited about making this. I followed the recipe exactly. Unfortunately, it was very bland. No flavor. Will not make again. But, love mostly all of Chef John’s other recipes. This just did not cut it for us.
It was a creative idea and turned out better than I thought. We had it on pasta mixed with roasted veggies and chicken sausage. My family found the texture to be offputting, but I may not have thinned it enough with the pasta water. I wasn’t sure what the final consistency should be. We all loved the flavor though. I reccommend cutting down the salt. I tasted it after adding the full amount and wished I could have taken half out. I ended up using some of the lemon juice to help balance it.
I really wanted to like this recipe, I love ricotta, and even made fresh homemade ricotta for this recipe. But I found the entire recipe a bit bland, and tasted way too much like lemon
Surprisingly easy and enjoyed the non-cream sauce. I probably went a little crazy with the Cayenne pepper (making it a true arrabiata sauce was not my intent) but still GREAT!