Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta with Burst Tomatoes, a simple pasta recipe but with so much flavour and you have it ready in less than 30 minutes. The spinach ricotta sauce is delicious and super versatile and the burst tomatoes just add such a special contrast! Top it with Parmesan shavings, cracked black pepper and that’s it, a perfect pasta dish for any meal or packed lunch.
Spinach Ricotta Pasta with Burst Tomatoes Recipe Inspo
I shared this recipe on Instagram literally 3 years ago, during one of my visits to Barcelona when I was still living in Oxford. I was able to work remotely and one day when I was at my mother’s she asked me to make dinner with what she had in the fridge (my mother on the food subject – and on others XD – is not a traditional mum, she’s not keen on spending time in the kitchen). She had some scalded spinach, some mató (a Catalan type of ricotta) and some cherry tomatoes which were about to go off. Since in her pantry there’s always onion or garlic (I learned having a well-stocked pantry from someone ;)), well, I came up with this recipe.
Today I’m bringing it back through the blog because you’ve asked me a lot for easy summer recipes, and today’s recipe ticks all the boxes. You can enjoy it hot or cold, but if I’m honest I always prefer it hot in this case, because I can sense the flavours much more.
What Else Can I Serve the Spinach and Ricotta Sauce with?
This sauce is super versatile, so you can eat it in many ways:
- As a sauce for grilled chicken breasts.
- The same but for white fish fillets such as hake, cod or sea bass.
- As a spread for toasts. In this case, I would recommend that you add very little water and leave it thick.
- As a potato salad dressing.
- As a pizza base sauce. As in the case of the toast, I recommend that in this case you make the sauce thicker.
The Nice Things of Improvising
Back in the day, when I made the recipe for the first time, it completely eye-balled it ( don’t worry though, I’ve remade it a couple of times to measure the ingredients properly 🙂 ). Where do I want to go with this? So if you have more spinach at home than what the recipe calls for and you need or want to use them, the same with the ricotta or tomatoes… don’t hesitate to adjust the recipe so that you don’t have any leftovers hanging around in the fridge, I’m sure it will be equally delicious. The thing is that sometimes improvising gives the best results, seriously.
More Pasta Dishes to Fall in Love with
If you are looking for simple pasta recipes that are good hot and cold like this Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta with Burst Tomatoes, you cannot miss:
If you make this Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta with Burst Tomatoes recipe, be sure to leave a comment and rate it. Hearing from you is everything! Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta with Burst Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 200 g pasta - see notes
- 1/2 onion - chopped
- 15 cherry tomatoes - halved
- 1 clove of garlic - or 2 if they are small, minced
- 100 g spinach - fresh. You can use frozen, but thaw and drain first
- 100 g Ricotta
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parmesan - optional, to garnish
Instructions
- Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the spinach and blanch for half a minute until softened. Take them out with a slotted spoon and reserve them in a colander so that the water drains away.
- In the same pot and with the same water, add a good handful of salt and then the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions or to the point you like best.
- Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a pan and sauté the onion over medium/medium-low heat with a pinch of salt until soft and slightly browned, about 5-10 minutes. Remove it and set aside.
- In the same pan, add a bit more of olive oil and once hot add the cherry tomatoes with the garlic. Let them cook for about 3 minutes and flip them. Cook for 1-2 more minutes. They have to be soft but without falling apart. At this point the pasta will surely be ready. Save a large cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
- Prepare the sauce by blending the drained spinach with the ricotta, onion, a pinch of salt, black pepper and a splash of the cooking water to start. Use the remaining pasta water to adjust the consistency (I generally add at least 100 ml). If the sauce is not hot enough, you can reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan.
- Mix the pasta with the sauce, top it with the cherry tomatoes and the oil that remained in the pan and some Parmesan cheese if you want. Enjoy!
Notes
- For this recipe I think that short pasta with holes like these “radiators”, conchiglie, macaroni, orecchiette, rigatoni for example works better. The holes trap the sauce so each bite has more flavour.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @paulasapron on Instagram and hashtag it #paulasapron.