Pasta and ricotta make for a perfect impromptu meal or weekend dinner. The mellow flavor combination of tomato, ricotta and a bit of parmesan cheese is vaguely reminiscent of southern-style lasagna. But unlike lasagna, it’ll be done in less than 30 minutes—the time it takes to bring the water to the boil and cook your pasta. Now that’s what I call a time-saver.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6 people
- 400-500g (3/4- 1 lb.) of short pasta (see Notes)
- 200-250g (7-8 oz.) of canned tomatoes, whole or crushed, or passata (see Notes)
- A garlic clove, peeled and slightly crushed
- Olive oil
- 250-300g (7-8 oz.) of ricotta (or to taste)
- Salt, to taste
- Grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
Optional:
- A fresh basil leaf or two
Directions
Put the water on the boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, begin your sauce: add the tomato, a drizzle of olive oil, the whole garlic clove, the basil (if using) and a pinch of salt to a heavy saucepan or pot and let it simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, just enough to lightly cook the tomato and meld the flavors—or, if you like you can keep it at the barest simmer until the pasta is done. Remove the garlic clove.
When the water comes to a boil, salt it generously. Then add your pasta and cook it al dente.
When the pasta is done, drain it—but not too well—and add it to the pot with the tomato sauce over very gentle heat. Mix well, then add a few dollops of ricotta, enough to coat the pasta nicely but not enough to ‘bury’ it. I usually don’t measure, I just mix the pasta after adding each dollop to see if I need more and keep adding until I reach the consistency I want. Add a bit of the pasta water if the mixture seems too thick. Then add grated parmesan (a spoonful per person should do) and mix again. Taste and adjust for seasoning. (Remember, ricotta is rather bland and you’ll need to season well.)
Top your pasta and ricotta with some more grated parmesan cheese if you like, and serve immediately.
Notes
This sauce goes with almost any kind of short pasta. I think rigatoni or paccheri are particularly nice made this way. In Puglia, they would use orecchiette. I’ve also tried curly lasagna noodles (sometimes called reginette) and broke them into short lengths, and liked them, too.
The simple tomato sauce can be made from canned tomatoes that you have squeezed between your fingers (if they are of proper quality, they should melt down in no time into a sauce) or crushed tomatoes (which will give you a more assertive tomato flavor) or sieved tomatoes in jars, known as passata di pomodoro. You may have noticed that, exceptionally, this tomato sauce does not begin by frying the garlic in oil. Instead, you just add the garlic and oil, raw, directly into the tomatoes. Angelina used to make tomato sauce this way sometimes. It makes for a lighter, mellower tasting sauce, with just the barest hint of garlic, which is just what you want here to complement the delicate flavor of the ricotta.
You can also make pasta and ricotta entirely in bianco—just add the ricotta to the cooked pasta with salt and some of the pasta water. It’s surprisingly good. Now that’s what I call simple but delicious cooking!
Pasta con la ricotta (Pasta with Ricotta Cheese)
Ingredients
- 400-500 g 3/4- 1 lb. of short pasta (see Notes)
- 200-250 g 7-8 oz. of canned tomatoes, whole or crushed, or passata (see Notes)
- A garlic clove peeled and slightly crushed
- Olive oil
- 250-300 g 7-8 oz. of ricotta (or to taste)
- Salt to taste
- Grated parmesan cheese to taste
Instructions
- Put the water on the boil for the pasta.
- Meanwhile, begin your sauce: add the tomato, a drizzle of olive oil, the whole garlic clove, the basil (if using) and a pinch of salt to a heavy saucepan or pot and let it simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, just enough to lightly cook the tomato and meld the flavors—or, if you like you can keep it at the barest simmer until the pasta is done. Remove the garlic clove.
- When the water comes to a boil, salt it generously. Then add your pasta and cook it al dente.
- When the pasta is done, drain it—but not too well—and add it to the pot with the tomato sauce over very gentle heat. Mix well, then add a few dollops of ricotta, enough to coat the pasta nicely but not enough to 'bury' it. I usually don't measure, I just mix the pasta after adding each dollop to see if I need more and keep adding until I reach the consistency I want. Add a bit of the pasta water if the mixture seems too thick. Then add grated parmesan (a spoonful per person should do) and mix again. Taste and adjust for seasoning. (Remember, ricotta is rather bland and you'll need to season well.)
- Top with some more grated parmesan cheese if you like, and serve immediately.
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69 Comments on “Pasta con la ricotta (Pasta and Ricotta Cheese)”
Just wanted to thank you for dinner tonight! Was looking for inspiration for a pasta dish with tomato “sauce” and fresh ricotta and came upon your Pasta Con La Ricotta. It was wonderful!! I made the dish with campanelle pasta. Absolutely perfect the way the sauce clung to the pasta – so creamy and flavorful. Am now curious to browse through some of your other offerings. =)
You’re welcome, Joni! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Campanelle does sound like a great choice of pasta for this sauce. And do please take a look around the site. Thanks so much for your comment and your readership!
Can I use Roma tomatoes for this recipe instead of San Marzanos?
Sure, of course.
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Growing up in the 1960’s, my grandfather Raffaello ‘Ralph’ Di Bari would make this by adding the ricotta at the table. He’d put a little sauce into a bowl of ricotta, mix it a bit and put however much each person wanted into their bowl before the sauced noodles were served. Everybody would mix their own and add some Romano. On a Sunday the sauce would have meat – pork hocks or sausage – cooked in it and a small serving would precede the pasta, with some sauce on top and liberally sprinkled with cheese.
Sounds incredible, Robert. Great memories!
Frank
Thanks for creating such a great site! I enjoy every posting and always look forward to the next installment.
yes, the ricotta and pasta with some sauce is delicious… I always use the full-size cans and whatever is left in the can is saved for another meal… or else I just make
sauce with the entire can…save excess in refrigerator or freeze it.
Hello! Came across your recipe in search of a quick pasta to serve tonight. Reading the recipe ingredients it calls for 8 oz. canned (crushed or whole) tomatoes. The smallest size can I have is 14 oz. Do you think using the entire 14 oz can is too much?
It would result in a very tomato-y sauce, of course, but it should still be good. Otherwise, you can do what I usually do and just refrigerate your extra tomatoes for later use.
Frank, congratulations on your 10 year anniversary!
This is one of my favorite Apulian (Barese) dishes from my childhood. My Grandma served it on Christmas Eve to all of us kids who weren’t into seafood. She made it with medium sized shell pasta to keep that seafood theme going 🙂 and put a touch of sugar in the ricotta. Just a little bit.
She used a plain marinara for us but made her “lobster gravy” for the adults. You could tell if they had a good year because lobster tails were used. When they weren’t as flush, monkfish was in the pot! I grew to love both as I grew older and still think of Christmas Eve when I smell seafood cooking.
Janet
I love seafood, too, Janet. Those dishes sound fabulous. And monkfish actually sounds almost as good as the lobster.
Don’t know if it went through….
I’m looking for use of ricotta salata in hot recipes… have only seen it in cold ones or simply cut, grated on cold dishes.
I don’t have too many recipes featuring ricotta salata, but check out my post on pasta allá norma.
I’m looking for uses of ricotta salata in hot dishes… I seem to only find it used grated or sliced (etc) on cold dishes.
Julie
Do you know the origin of this dish or a little history about it. Is it from the South, Calabria, Siciliy, Apuglia? I am interested in the history/evolution of this dish
I haven’t done much research on the subject, but I’m fairly sure pasta con la ricotta is a southern dish, and more specifically from Puglia. And that makes sense tome, since it was the pugliese side of my family that made it, often with the short rolled pasta called cavatelli. But they also make it in Campania with a long, ruffled pasta called reginette, mixed with tomato sauce as featured here.
Frank
I contacted Clifford Wright who is known for his knowledge of Mediterranean and Italian cuisine. He seems to think that as the tomato did not arrive in Italy until the 1500’s and it arrived in Naples and Palermo and ricotta being a key ingredient in Sicilian cooking that it probably was Sicilian in origin. He made reference to a cookbook published in 1692 by Antonio Latini entitled ” Lo Scalco alla Moderna “. I donot know how to get access to this book but he thinks the author might reference ricotta and tomatoes in his book.
Best I can come up with now. If you find something out please let me know as I think it is just as important to know the history of a dish as well as to know how to prepare it.
Regards
Tom
I contacted Clifford Wright regarding this dish. Based on the fact that the tomato came to Naples and Palermo and ricotta being Sicilian he thinks it is Sicilian in origin. He said I might find a reference to tomatoes with ricotta in Antonio Latini’s ” Lo Scalco alla Moderna
As a longtime reader of your blog, this is one of my fave recipes. Love testing it with different pasta shapes. So simple, but the quality of the ingredients make the dish. Going to try this with farfelle tonight!
Catherine, I’m always delighted to hear from our longtime readers! And happy to hear you like this recipe—it’s one of my faves, too. Farfalle would be fantastic with this sauce, as I’m sure you found out. Cheers, Frank
Ciao Frank,
this reminds me of the wonderful times at university, how many times I prepared pasta e ricotta for my flatmates during exam periods! One the best comfort food ever, with mezze maniche as first choice, always. It is so true that food is so connected to memories, thanks for reminding me those happy times. Have a nice weekend!
Frank – this was terrific and so easy. I did snap a photo to post on your FB page but under the electric lights it just looked wrong. I opted not to post, but want you to know how much Mark and I enjoyed this!
Thanks, David. I’m sorry you didn’t post that photo, lighting notwithstanding… But it’s the taste that counts. Delighted to hear you enjoyed the dish!
I’m making this again this week with some fresh goat ricotta from our farmers market. This time I will have better lighting and will post a pic on Facebook! Thanks for all the comfort recipes – we all need them these days. Stay cozy by your fire (if it’s cool enough) or in your beautiful back garden. Take care of yourselves!
I’ll look out for that Facebook pic, David! And you guys take care, too…
Easy, quick and delicious! The perfect meal if you have limited time but still want something comforting! We both love rigatoni ourselves but we bet this sauce must be also awesome with linguine, right? We’ll try this out with the Greek version of ricotta, called “anthotyros”. M-m-mm, can’t wait for it!:)
Sending you lots of sunshine from Athens! xo
Actually, I think it would be much better with the rigatoni. The sauce is a bit “clingy” so a short pasta works better than a long one. Anyway, if you do try it, let us know if you like it!
Frank I grew up enjoying this preparation, thank you for reminding me that this simple dish is satisfying and delicious. Your instructions echo the way in which my grandmother prepared it; of course we always thought it was a Calabrese tradition.
Interesting. I guess it’s such a classic combination it has developed multiple places.
Got some fresh ricotta at the farmers market this morning. Guess what’s for dinner!?
I’ve done something similar – but never adding the ricotta directly to the pot. This will come to the dinner table next week. I love easy dinners Mondays-Fridays. And I am sucker for ricotta!
Me too, Claudia.
I’ve never had this dish! Sounds easy and really tasty. Particularly like your instruction to drain the pasta, but not too well — how I always do it! 🙂 Good recipe — thanks.
Thanks for reposting this, Frank. Love the traditional way you used the garlic. So few people get that! Bravo.
Hi Frank, I found your website after visiting Italia this summer. What a great resource you have created from your Grandmother memories and I have learned so much. I too love food memories, even just thinking of about making my Grandmothers Swedish meatballs makes me happy. I have re-created some of the dishes from my trip this summer and long to go back for another visit. I made the pasta con ricotta recipe last night and my wife is loving me for it :). I used the Nina Canned tomatoes from Costco and the sauce turned out very good. Cheers! Jeff
Thanks for the feedback, Jeff! Those Nina tomatoes are an excellent choice (btw, have you checked out my post on canned tomatoes?) Really glad you’re enjoying the site. And if you have recipes to share, maybe you should think about starting your own blog… I’m sure that Swedish meatball recipe would be a big hit.
Hi Frank, Yes I did read your post on the canned tomatoes which was very informative. I would never have thought twice re: the difference in American canned vs Italian imported. Up next will be to make Chili with the NINA Brand to see how that campares in taste and texture. Cheers, Jeff
There is this Italian restaurant about an hour away from where I live that has the best Baked Ziti. I have looked all over the internet for baked ziti recipes but none look like theirs. I ended up finding the right keywords in google images and found this page with the sauce looking identical! It looks just like this but with a tiny bit of tomato sauce added on top and then the cheese and all baked. They also put basil into the sauce as well and I am sure a lot more oil since theirs is a lot “shinier”. Thanks for the recipie, I will have to try it sometime soon!
Glad we could be of help, Scott. Happy cooking! Frank
Would this recipe be attached to a certain region? Campania, perhaps???
In our family we knew it as a pugliese dish, but apparently the Sicilians lay claim to it as well…
And in Naples they make it with paccheri!
Olá que bela receita muito obrigado vou fazer.
This is one of my favorite go-to pastas. Sometimes, especially before I had to feed two little ones at every meal, I used to add a healthy glug of Tabasco to it.
Thank you for the recipe, it was very delicious. We ate it with your toscan fried chicken breasts, for otherwise my husband would have missed some meat, both were very good. And thanks once again, this time for the detailed instructions for frying the chicken, they really helped a lot.
Thanks for mentioned our region!
🙂
Thanks, Xean! It is pretty yummy, if I do say so myself!
beautiful! and looks so yummy! 🙂
Thanks, gals. Simplicity, as wise person once said, is the highest form of sophistication.
I love ricotta and I am always forgetting to get some – or better, make some – and use it as the star in a dish like this. Simple perfection.
Ricotta is a brilliant condiment for pasta. My family loves when I prepare our fave dish!
And @Manu: Many, many thanks for your kind gesture. It's a real honor coming from such a fantastic cook and blogger!
Thanks, friends, for all your wonderful comments, as always. And @Ciao Chow Linda: do let us know how you liked it…
Hi Frank! I have a few awards waiting for you here: http://www.manusmenu.com/salted-caramel-macarons !!! 🙂
This pasta looks just unbelievable, I never learnt to make pasta in this life, but maybe I will try once again to make, because the whole family loves it!
What a simple and delicious looking meal! I love the ricotta in the tomato sauce; however, I would have to leave in the garlic clove. But then I'm one of those that believe you can never get enough garlic. 🙂
This will be on my dinner table tomorrow night – need to run out for ricotta.
Delicious! My mom's favourite pasta is just with ricotta (the “in bianco” version). Yours looks so good! Ohhh now I am hungry again and I just had lunch!!!
And if would stop spoon-feeding myself the ricotta – I'd have enough to make this tonight.
very nice Frank, this is indeed a perfect mellow, weekend meal… this is just the type of cooking I enjoy, simple and from the heart of the kitchen
I haven't tried this wonderful dish but I'm sure it's delicious. The cream sauce makes it a lovely pasta dish 🙂
Frank, would love to have you join me @ Promote Your Blog @ Shirley's Luxury Haven! DIY This X’mas With 12 Lovely Recipes! Happy Holidays!
Who wouldn't love this?
LL
I love ricotta,it's perfect for a creamy sauce pasta..have a good week…
Just lovely. So simple, and such a wonderful comfort dish for a December evening. 🙂
This looks perfect for a quick, light and delicious side. I'm looking forward to trying this soon. Thanks for sharing.
Simply delicious. I love creamy sauces and ricotta makes for a very creamy pasta!