Quick and easy pesto ricotta pasta is ready in just 15 minutes! Make the easy weeknight dinner with simple ingredients, or serve it as a cozy side dish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pasta: Use your favorite pasta for the dish. I made fettuccini, but swap it for bucatini, pappardelle, penne, shells, orecchiette, rigatoni, fusilli, or whatever you have in the pantry.
- Pesto: Use homemade pesto sauce for fresh-tasting flavor or store-bought pesto from the grocery store when you are in a hurry.
- Ricotta Cheese: Whole milk ricotta cheese works best for a creamy texture.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice from half a lemon and lemon zest makes a big difference and brightens the pasta with incredible flavor.
- Spices: Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to season the pesto ricotta sauce. Taste and season the pasta with salt, depending on the pesto.
- Pasta Water: Reserve one cup of water from cooking the pasta; this is needed to distribute the ricotta pesto mixture.
- Toppings: Finish the easy pasta dish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Additions and Substitutions
- Experiment with flavor. Replace classic pesto with pistachio pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, cilantro pesto, arugula pesto, or mint pesto.
- Switch the pasta. Try ravioli or tortellini instead of regular pasta.
- Sneak in some veggies. Add cherry tomatoes, baby spinach leaves, arugula, sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, peas, or asparagus.
- Add protein. Top with fried salmon bites, thin-cut chicken breast, air fryer chicken sausage, baked meatballs, or baked shrimp skewers for easy meal prep. Consider adding white beans or chickpeas for a vegetarian option.
- Mix it up. Toss in some olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or bocconcini (mozzarella balls).
Tools You’ll Need
- Pasta: You will need a large pot to boil the pasta (saucepan, Dutch oven, stockpot) and a colander to drain the cooked pasta.
- Ricotta Pesto Sauce: Mix the creamy ricotta cheese, pesto, lemon juice, and spices by hand in a small bowl or food processor.
- Serving: Portion the pasta into shallow bowls for individual servings, or transfer it to a large dish if serving as a side.
How to Make Pesto Ricotta Pasta
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until it’s al dente.
Reserve one cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta through a colander.
Step 2: Meanwhile, combine the pesto sauce, ricotta cheese, lemon (juice and zest), and red pepper flakes in a food processor or whisk together by hand in a bowl.
Step 3: Transfer the hot pasta and the ricotta-pesto mixture back to the pot. Add the reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce evenly coats the pasta.
Taste and season with salt and more red pepper flakes as needed.
Step 4: Spoon the pasta into shallow bowls or a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Expert Tips
- Reserve pasta water. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten, but reserving the pasta water is necessary to coat and bind the pasta with the creamy ricotta pesto sauce. Add the pasta water slowly, a tablespoon at a time. You can use hot water in a pinch, but it won’t coat the pasta like the starchy pasta water.
If you enjoy pesto ricotta pasta, try even more pasta dishes from Jamil Ghar!
Serving Suggestions
Serve pesto ricotta pasta as a main dish for a cozy pasta night topped with a bit of lemon zest, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil leaves, grated parmesan cheese, or a drizzle of olive oil.
And don’t forget a crunchy slice of Dutch oven sourdough bread, garlic bread, or arugula spinach salad with balsamic citrus vinaigrette to go with it!
Serve the ricotta pasta recipe as a side with chicken cutlets, chicken salmoriglio, fried salmon bites, and baked shrimp skewers.
What To Do With Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover ricotta pesto pasta in an airtight container for 3-5 days.
- Reheat: Warm the leftovers in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add a little water, heavy cream, or milk to loosen the sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the pasta is hot throughout.
- Repurpose: One of my favorite ways to use the leftovers is to stir the pasta into Italian recipes like Instant Pot tortellini soup to replace the tortellini.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much salt to add to pasta water?
It depends on how much pasta you are making. As a general rule, use one tablespoon of kosher salt (not table salt) for every 4 to 6 quarts of water to enhance the flavor of the pasta as it cooks.
More Pesto Recipes:
- Orzo Pesto Pasta Salad
- Pesto Flounder
- AIP Pesto
- Pesto Butter
Pesto Ricotta Pasta
- Small Bowl or Food Processor
- 1 pound (16 ounces) pasta
- 1 cup pesto sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup full-fat ricotta cheese
- fresh lemon juice ½ lemon, plus 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- kosher salt, to taste
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- extra-virgin olive oil, to garnish
- grated parmesan cheese, to garnish
- Meanwhile, combine the pesto sauce, ricotta cheese, lemon (juice and zest), and red pepper flakes in a food processor or whisk together by hand in a bowl.
- Transfer the hot pasta and the ricotta-pesto mixture back to the pot. Add the reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce evenly coats the pasta. Taste and season with salt and more red pepper flakes as needed.
- Spoon the pasta into shallow bowls or a serving bowl, drizzle with olive oil and top with grated parmesan cheese.
- Reserve pasta water. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten, but reserving the pasta water is necessary to coat and bind the pasta with the creamy ricotta pesto sauce. Add the pasta water slowly, a tablespoon at a time. You can use hot water in a pinch, but it won’t coat the pasta like the starchy pasta water.