Sunday, June 26, 2011

Recipe for Penne Pasta with Wilted Arugula, Basil, Ricotta, and Parmesan Sauce

If you have fresh basil or arugula in your garden, this quick pasta dish is delicious!

For a long time I never thought of pasta as being a summer dish, except for pasta salads.  Then a few years ago I discovered no-cook pasta sauces, where a mixture of summer vegetables and fresh herbs are combined with freshly cooked pasta for a delightful dish that's eaten barely warm.  I used my first basil pickings of the summer in this flavorful sauce that combines barely-cooked arugula and basil, pesto, ricotta cheese, parmesan, lemon zest, and olive oil.  I didn't have that much basil yet, so I used a combination of chopped basil with a few tablespoons of basil pesto, and if you don't have garden basil you could probably use even more pesto.  I also lightened up the dish by using part-skim ricotta cheese, which I thought gave plenty of creaminess to the finished pasta.  If you like the strong flavors of arugula and basil, I think this is a perfect summer pasta recipe, but if you're not an arugula fan spinach would also be good.

Click to continue reading

No comments:

Post a Comment