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Pappardelle with Creamy Ricotta Pesto – pappardelle pasta in a creamy, garlicky pesto sauce infused with ricotta. Who would have thought that pesto could get any better? #pesto #pasta #pappardelle #italian #easy #quick #dinner #ricotta #sauce

Pappardelle with Creamy Ricotta Pesto

Pappardelle with Creamy Ricotta Pesto – pappardelle pasta in a creamy, garlicky pesto sauce infused with ricotta.



5 from 20 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound pappardelle pasta or other variety (500g)
  • 1 tablespoon butter (14g)
  • 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves (100g)
  • 2 garlic cloves finely minced
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (100g)
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts (33g)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice optional
  • Salt to taste
  • ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (56g)
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino romano cheese (14g)
  • 2 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature (28g)
  • ¼ cup ricotta cheese (57g)

Instructions
 

For the pasta:

  • Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. The water should be as salty as sea water. I use about 2 tablespoons.
  • Drain pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid to thin the Ricotta Pesto as needed.
  • Toss drained pasta with 1 tablespoon butter.

For the Ricotta Pesto:

    To make in the food processor:

    • In the bowl of a food processor, combine basil, olive oil, pine nuts, minced garlic, optional lemon juice, and salt to taste. Process until creamy.
    • Transfer to a bowl and mix in the two cheeses, butter, and ricotta.

    To make with mortar and pestle:

    • Combine basil, pine nuts, minced garlic, and salt to taste (coarse is better in the mortar). Using the pestle with a rotary, grinding motion, grind the ingredients into a paste against the sides of the mortar.
    • Add both cheeses and the optional lemon and using the pestle grind into the paste.
    • Pour in olive oil in a thin stream and beat until incorporated with a wooden spoon.
    • Stir in butter and ricotta.

    Combine pasta and sauce:

    • Toss the Ricotta Pesto with the hot, buttered pasta, adding reserved pasta water as necessary to make a sauce that clings to the pasta. I stir about ½ cup of the reserved water into the pesto before adding to the pasta. Salt as needed to taste.
    Keyword ricotta pesto
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