Beet Pasta with Ricotta and Wilted Greens
We love a dish that is a feast for the eyes in addition to the belly and the color combo of this pasta dinner is top notch.
Ingredients
1 clam shell beet pasta from carasello
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp chili flake (optional)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bags spinach or 2 bunches broccolini, roughly chopped
8 oz fresh ricotta
1 lemon, zest and juice
Method
- Boil the pasta to just shy of al dente then drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water
- In the pasta pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and fry the fennel seed chili flake until fragrant then reduce the heat to low and add the garlic with a big pinch of salt and gently cook until soft but not browned
- Return the pasta to the pot along with the greens/broccolini and a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and toss to coat allowing the hot water and pasta to gently wilt the greens
- When the greens are bright green and just wilted
- Remove from the heat and toss with the lemon zest and juice
- Taste and adjust seasoning adding more salt or olive oil as needed
- Transfer to a serving dish and top with dots of ricotta and a few grinds of black pepper to serve
