Pasta with Summer Squash & Ricotta
Mario Batali is promoting once a week meatless meals. I liked the recipe but felt it needed a bit of tweaking. Since I decided to add chicken sausages, I no longer had a meatless meal, but it was a tasty easy one and helped use a lot of our summer squash.
2 cups fresh ricotta
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1⁄2-1 cup freshly grated Parmigiana, plus extra for serving
2 to 3 tablespoons pasta water, more if needed
2 pounds summer squash or zucchini, or a combination, cut lengthwise in half and
sliced into 1⁄3-inch-thick half-moons
sea salt
1 pound penne or other pasta, whole wheat pasta works fine in this dish
6 tablespoons or more to taste coarsely chopped fresh mint
Coarsely ground black pepper
Optional, but a good addition: 1# fully cooked chicken sausages, any flavor you like, sliced.
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until just al dente. Drain the pasta. Meanwhile, whisk the ricotta and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil together in a small bowl. Add the Parmigiana, whisking until it is evenly incorporated. Whisk in 1/4-1/3 cup of the pasta water until it has a somewhat saucelike consistency.
Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the squash and cook, stirring, until just tender and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the sliced sausage if using and heat until warm. Remove from the heat.
Add the pasta to the squash, stirring and tossing over medium heat to mix well. Cover, reduce the heat to low and allow to steam together for 2 minutes. Add the ricotta mixture. Stir in the mint, season with pepper and salt, if necessary and transfer the pasta to a serving bowl. Serve with additional grated Parmigiana on the side.
2 cups fresh ricotta
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1⁄2-1 cup freshly grated Parmigiana, plus extra for serving
2 to 3 tablespoons pasta water, more if needed
2 pounds summer squash or zucchini, or a combination, cut lengthwise in half and
sliced into 1⁄3-inch-thick half-moons
sea salt
1 pound penne or other pasta, whole wheat pasta works fine in this dish
6 tablespoons or more to taste coarsely chopped fresh mint
Coarsely ground black pepper
Optional, but a good addition: 1# fully cooked chicken sausages, any flavor you like, sliced.
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until just al dente. Drain the pasta. Meanwhile, whisk the ricotta and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil together in a small bowl. Add the Parmigiana, whisking until it is evenly incorporated. Whisk in 1/4-1/3 cup of the pasta water until it has a somewhat saucelike consistency.
Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the squash and cook, stirring, until just tender and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the sliced sausage if using and heat until warm. Remove from the heat.
Add the pasta to the squash, stirring and tossing over medium heat to mix well. Cover, reduce the heat to low and allow to steam together for 2 minutes. Add the ricotta mixture. Stir in the mint, season with pepper and salt, if necessary and transfer the pasta to a serving bowl. Serve with additional grated Parmigiana on the side.
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