Lemon Ricotta Fettuccine with Spinach

[Editing the recipe already: I think I’m going to add shrimp next time, and I think this would be good with asparagus too! I shall try that once asparagus comes into season.]

 I was going to make this with my own ricotta (link Here) but was running short on time, so I nixed that. 

Without that, it looks to be a pretty simple sauce: ricotta, fresh Parmesan, olive oil, lemon juice. I’m going to whisk it in a four-cup measure with some pasta water before tossing it with the pasta and some fresh wilted spinach. 

I did the spinach while I was getting ready to cook (aka cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, so there would be room to cook, lol), wilting it in the microwave. I just toss it in a big bowl like this, cover it, microwave it a couple minutes till it wilts down (three or four minutes), stir, and fill it back up again - repeat! Spinach cooks down a LOT.

Now the pasta pot is on the stove, with the water heating for the fettuccine. 

Once the fettuccine goes in - keep stirring it, every minute or so! Fettuccine will STICK bad. Don’t be afraid to toss some oil in the pot if you need to!

I’m putting the sauce together - it’s a no-cook sauce - in a four-cup measure I have. These OXO four-cup measures are the best, I’m telling you. A cup of ricotta, half a cup of Parmesan, two tablespoons olive oil, and a quarter cup lemon juice - and once the pasta is done, I’m pulling a cup of water out of the pot in a glass measure and adding half a cup of that to it.

Mine was a little too thick, so I added another bit of pasta water to it - that’s why you pulled out a cup to start with, and only used half of it! 

And then you just toss it all together. Nice and easy!

Actually, once I got all mine tossed, it turned out to have a bit too much sauce on it - probably that extra little bit of pasta water! This is never a problem with gluten free pasta. Just let it sit for five minutes or so, and it will soak up anything extra. 

LEMON RICOTTA FETTUCCINE WITH SPINACH

Ingredients

2lbs fresh spinach

14oz Tinkyada fettuccine

1C ricotta

1/2C Parmesan (I used dried, but fresh would work well)

2T olive oil

1/4C lemon juice

(If you’re using a real lemon for the juice, you can toss some lemon zest in too)

Parmesan and parsley for topping

Wilt the spinach in the microwave, tightly covered, three or four minutes at a time until all cooked down.

Cook fettuccine - not quite according to package directions! - because if you cook Tinkyada fettuccine for the 10-11 minutes it says you will have mush. Try cooking it for eight, or until al denote.

Measure ricotta. Parmesan, olive oil, and lemon juice into a small bowl or four-cup measure. 

Reserve 1C of pasta water before draining the pasta. Add 1/2C to the cheese mixture and whisk. If it’s too thick, add a little bit more.

Toss it all together, top with Parmesan and parsley, and serve hot.

*Or portion it up and freeze it, which is what I’m doing. This one is going to freeze well, I promise!

For a reheating tip - I always use a little fat free half and half, added it before I reheat it. Like I said above, GF pasta does soak up sauce!

Servings: 7

Calories per serving: 300

Gluten Free Fudge Cookies

 

Generally, when a recipe calls for ‘flourless’ anything, that translates into ‘very expensive flours you will have to order online’! But these legit truly are ‘flourless,’ using powdered sugar and cocoa powder. And very good!

I will note, the next time I make these, I’m going to see if I can find gluten free white chocolate chips and maybe add some chopped nuts. This time they just have regular chocolate chips!

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray 

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

4 cold large egg whites

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper and very lightly grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. 
2. Stir in egg whites and vanilla then add chocolate chips. For shinier cookies, rest dough at room temperature for 20 minutes. Scoop tablespoon-size mounds onto prepared baking sheets and bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes on baking sheet then carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack with a spatula to cool completely. 

Shrimp and Broccoli Fettuccine with Parma Rosa

The cooking of this pasta has happened in fits and starts while I was practicing the hymns for church tomorrow, to be honest with you!

This is a super-easy pasta to do that with. 

I’m using a bag of pre-cooked frozen shrimp. Nice and easy. All I’m doing to those is just taking the tails off, because I’ve never seen any point in leaving shrimp tails on when they’re going in a pasta!

The fettuccine I cooked earlier today. When you do that - cook your pasta ahead of time (especially if it’s gluten free!) - I advice just leaving it in the colander. Run hot water over it and stir - I guess I usually use my hands! - to separate it before tossing with your sauce.

A note on using fettuccine: it DOES tend to clump together. Stir it often while it is cooking, and toss some olive oil in the pot if it needs it!

Broccoli - ditto, cooked while I was at the piano. I microwaved it, covered, three minutes / stirred / and then microwaved another three.

So basically, when it comes around to five o’clock and I need to finish dinner, all I’ve got left is the sauce.

And I had my Basic Marinara frozen in the freezer from several weeks ago, so a Parma Rosa was easy.

SHRIMP AND BROCCOLI FETTUCCINE WITH PARMA ROSA

Ingredients

14ox Tinkyada fettuccine 

12oz precooked frozen shrimp, with tails removed

3 or 4 C broccoli florets

One recipe Parma Rosa Sauce

Extra Parmesan and parsley, for serving

Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Remove tails from shrimp.

Steam broccoli florets in the microwave in a plastic bowl, tightly covered, three minutes at a time until tender-crisp. 

Prepare Parma Rosa. Toss fettuccine with shrimp, broccoli, and sauce. Serve topped with extra Parmesan and parsley. 

Servings: 7

Calories per serving: 320

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Parma Rosa

I just now realized Parma Rosa had never rated its own blog post! Rectifying that, because I’m using it in a shrimp and broccoli fettuccine that I’m blogging right now: I want a link for this!

 PARMA ROSA

I dearly love a Parma Rosa sauce, probably more than the marinara alone. I’ve tossed Parma Rosa over fresh steamed spinach, a grilled chicken breast, and brown rice pasta (Tinkyada); today I’m tossing it over shrimp, broccoli and Tinkyada fettuccine. Whatever you want, pretty much!

Make a big batch of this Basic Marinara some Saturday when you’ve got time, freeze what you don’t use - and I promise / PROMISE / you will have better dinners on hand than if you grabbed a jar of store-bought sauce in your pantry!

Use:

A cup of the Basic Marinara

Half a cup Fat Free Half and Half

And half a cup Parmesan. 

*The Parmesan: I use dried or fresh, whichever I’ve got on hand. Today the dried is going in the sauce and it’ll be topped with fresh when I eat it.