In this recipe
- Why this recipe is great
- Pasta with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach: Recipe, Hacks and Tips
- Easy Pasta Sauce
- Penne, Tagliatelle or Spaghetti? Which Pasta is the Best?
- Extra Creamy and Smooth
- Frozen Spinach and 15 Minutes of Your Time
- More Quick and Cheesy Recipes
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Why this recipe is great
Pasta with ricotta cheese and spinach is delicious and easy to cook. We use frozen spinach to speed up the cooking process. This is perfect in winter when fresh spinach is not available. Frozen spinach is full of nutrients. Using it, you can reduce cooking time. There is no need to wash, dry, and cut fresh spinach.
Four simple ingredients ♡
Pasta with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach: Recipe, Hacks and Tips
Are you in the mood for a quick and easy recipe? You need three main ingredients to make this pasta recipe. Ricotta cheese, spinach, and pasta. Start by cooking pasta until al dente. In the meantime, while the pasta cooks, prepare the ricotta and spinach sauce. This will save some cooking time.
Finely chop the onion and fry it in oil in a pan. Cut two cloves of garlic in half. Wait until the onion becomes transparent, then add garlic. Fry for around 2 minutes, and then remove the garlic. We are adding garlic shortly to add flavor to the pasta. But we don’t want pasta to have a strong garlic taste. That’s why we remove it.
Add spices and stir quickly. We use oregano, black pepper, and salt. We are sure you have these simple spices at home. And we want you to start cooking now. Without going to the grocery store and looking for extra spices. So why overload a recipe with spices you never heard of? There’s no need. The combination of creamy ricotta and mild, earthy spinach is extremely delicious.
Stir spices quickly. Add frozen spinach. Cover with a lid and simmer until it defrosts. Then, bring to a boil. We are using frozen jung spinach. Young spinach leaves are small, and the sauce becomes very smooth. If you can get young frozen spinach, use it for this recipe. If not, you can use a regular frozen spinach. The recipe works with both perfectly.
Add ricotta and stir. Bring to a boil. Now you have a rich, creamy, fresh ricotta and spinach sauce! Add cooked pasta. And pasta water. Stir. Pasta with ricotta cheese and spinach is ready to serve!
Easy Pasta Sauce
To make a pasta sauce, we fry chopped onion first. Cut the onion into tiny pieces for the sauce. That way, it adds yummy flavor without noticing it in your pasta. Add garlic, fry quickly, and remove. This way, garlic gives a light flavor. But not a strong garlic taste. Perfect for meal prep: You can take pasta to the office. Or if you don’t like the strong garlic taste.
Next, add spices and frozen spinach. After the spinach defrosts, bring it to a boil. Finely add ricotta and bring to a boil. All the ingredients will combine in 2-3 minutes, and the sauce is ready. Very easy to make and so rich and creamy! Full of nutrients, too!
Penne, Tagliatelle or Spaghetti? Which Pasta is the Best?
We recommend using tagliatelle for pasta with ricotta cheese and spinach. We love this pasta type because tagliatelle ribbons coat evenly with a sauce. This pasta is broad and thick. What a satisfying bite! Paired up with smooth and creamy sauce. You need 240 g of tagliatelle to make three servings. Per serving, it is around 70-80 g of dry pasta. In addition, 150 g of frozen spinach and 80 g of ricotta per serving. Perfect to satisfy the hunger properly and stay full for 4-5 hours.
You can also use spaghetti for this recipe. They aren’t as broad as tagliatelle but coat perfectly in the creamy sauce. Penne is also a great choice. It’s firmer and more chewy than tagliatelle and spaghetti. All three pasta types taste delicious with spinach and ricotta sauce.
Extra Creamy and Smooth
Do you love a creamy smooth pasta sauce? We too! That’s why we use ricotta in this recipe. It’s perfect to add a smooth, creamy texture to a pasta sauce. Combined with spinach, the sauce is creamy, slightly earthy, and fresh. By adding water, you can reach an ideal sauce consistency. Not dry, but moist and flavorful. Perfect to combine with pasta.
We don’t recommend adding a lot of spices. This can overshadow the natural flavor of the pasta. We love the combination of flavors. That’s why we use fried onion, garlic, and basic spices. Oregano, ground black pepper, and salt.
Frozen Spinach and 15 Minutes of Your Time
We use frozen spinach to make a quick spinach ricotta pasta. You always have a package of spinach in the freezer. And ricotta in the fridge. With 15 minutes, you can make a delicious and quick sauce! We recommend using young frozen spinach for this recipe. It makes the sauce tender and smooth. But if you don’t have it, use a regular frozen spinach from your freezer.
More Quick and Cheesy Recipes
Do you love the smooth taste of cheese? Try out cheesy muffins. You need two types of cheeses to make them. And the result is extra smooth and moist. Or cheesy lasagna soup. Extra quick in prepping and cooking. But so flavorful, topped with melted cheese.
Recommended Recipes
Pasta with Ricotta Cheese and Spinach in 15 Minutes
Ingredients
- 240 g tagliatelle pasta
- 450 g frozen spinach we used young frozen spinach
- 250 g ricotta
- 30 g oil
- 80 g onions
- 10 g garlic 2 cloves
- 100 g pasta water
- Spices
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Cook 240 g tagliatelle pasta until al dente.
- While the pasta cooks, start making spinach ricotta sauce. In a frying pan, add 30 g of oil. Fry 80 g finely chopped onion until it becomes transparent. Cut two cloves of garlic in half. Fry with the onion for 2-3 minutes. Then, remove the garlic. We fry garlic shortly to add some flavor.
- Add the spices to the onion: ½ tsp oregano, ½ tsp black pepper, and ½ tsp salt. Stir, and add the 450 g frozen spinach. Simmer the spinach under the lid until it defrosts and boils.*
- Add 250 g ricotta to the spinach and stir. Bring to a boil.
- Add cooked tagliatelle and 100 g of pasta water to the sauce. Stir to combine.
Video
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
Share the love! Let us know how it turned out! Leave a comment under the recipe or on our YouTube channel.