Lemon Ricotta Pasta (Printable)

Bright and creamy spaghetti with lemon zest, ricotta, and Parmesan. A quick, elegant Italian-inspired main dish.

# What You'll Need:

→ Pasta

01 - 12 oz spaghetti
02 - 1 tablespoon kosher salt for pasta water

→ Ricotta-Lemon Sauce

03 - 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
04 - 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
05 - 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
06 - 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
07 - 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
08 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
09 - 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

→ Garnish

10 - 2 tablespoons fresh basil or parsley, chopped
11 - Lemon zest, extra
12 - Freshly ground black pepper

# Directions:

01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
02 - While the pasta cooks, whisk together ricotta, lemon zest, lemon juice, Parmesan, olive oil, garlic, black pepper, and salt in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy.
03 - Add the hot drained spaghetti to the bowl with the ricotta-lemon sauce. Toss well, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce coats the pasta luxuriously.
04 - Divide among bowls. Top with extra Parmesan, fresh basil or parsley, additional lemon zest, and a grind of black pepper.
05 - Serve immediately while hot.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes like you spent an hour in the kitchen, but you only need 25 minutes from start to finish.
  • The creamy ricotta and bright lemon create a sauce that clings to every strand without feeling heavy.
  • You probably already have most of these ingredients, so it's perfect for those nights when the fridge looks bare.
  • It's elegant enough to serve guests but simple enough to make on a Tuesday when you're too tired to think.
02 -
  • Don't rinse the pasta after draining—you need that surface starch to help the sauce stick, and rinsing washes away all that flavor you built in the salted water.
  • Add the pasta water slowly, a tablespoon at a time, because it's easy to make the sauce too thin and nearly impossible to thicken it back up without more cheese.
  • Use the ricotta at room temperature if you can, because cold ricotta won't blend as smoothly and can make the sauce look curdled instead of silky.
03 -
  • Grate your garlic on a microplane instead of mincing it with a knife—it breaks down finer and blends into the sauce invisibly, so you get the flavor without any harsh bite.
  • Taste your lemon before you commit to the whole juice—some lemons are sweeter, some are bracingly sour, and you want to adjust so the sauce is bright but not puckering.
  • If you're making this for guests, prep the ricotta mixture ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge, then just cook the pasta and toss everything together right before serving.
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