This bright and cheery Lemon Ricotta Pasta has only five ingredients and takes 20 minutes total! Sautéed zucchini and fresh basil are added to pasta tossed in a creamy, lemony sauce. You can use other veggies if you want. When you don’t know what to cook, make this!
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I recently got back from a weekend getaway in Vermont. Usually I love eating out when traveling, but we stayed at such a nice AirBnB, I knew I wanted to cook at home at least once.
This was the perfect simple recipe to make while traveling. I didn’t need to bring a ton of ingredients and spices – just 5 basic ingredients.
Add this to your list of recipes to make when you’re tired, traveling, or just need a super simple and fast thing to feed your family!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pasta – any shape you want. I used a fancy one from an Italian market called Creste di gallo.
- Ricotta cheese – I prefer whole milk.
- Lemon – you’ll use both the juice and the zest in this.
- Zucchini – or another veggie! Asparagus, broccoli, peas, and/or green beans would all be great here. Even a leafy green like kale or spinach would work.
- Fresh basil – or another delicate herb, or even a spoonful or two of pesto.
- Olive oil, salt, and pepper
How to make Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Zucchini and Basil
First, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil (as salty as the sea!). Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package until it’s al dente.
Meanwhile, sauté the zucchini in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. Use highish heat and don’t move it around too much to let some good browning develop.
Reserve some of the pasta water (I like to ladle it into a glass measuring cup) and drain the pasta. Return back to the pot and stir in the ricotta cheese, as well as a generous portion of the pasta water. Stir until a nice creamy sauce forms.
Then, just add the cooked zucchini, along with the lemon zest and juice and fresh basil!
Tasty Tip
Cook the zucchini on highish heat and don’t stir it around too much so you get some nice browned color on it. This will help bring out the flavor in this normally bland vegetable!
Storing leftover pasta
When I’m packing up my leftover pasta in a container (in the rare case that I have any!), I like to stir some of the reserved pasta water into the leftovers. It may seem a bit liquidy, but this will help the pasta not dry out in the fridge.
Other Five-Ingredient Dinner Ideas
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Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Zucchini and Basil
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta any shape, I used Creste di gallo
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium zucchini halved and sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces. See notes for other vegetables.
- salt and pepper
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese preferably whole milk
- juice and zest of one lemon about 1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese, crushed red pepper, and extra olive oil for serving, optional
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Instructions
- Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook the 8 oz. pasta according to the directions on the package until al dente.
- Meanwhile in a skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the sliced 2 medium zucchini in 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. After giving it an initial stir to coat in the oil, salt, and pepper, let the zucchini sit for a few minutes in a single layer without stirring or flipping so it develops a nice brown color on one side – this will help bring out more flavor.
- When the pasta is done, reserve at least 1 cup of the pasta water in a glass measuring cup. Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Stir in the ¾ cup ricotta cheese as well as about half a cup of the pasta water until a creamy sauce forms. Add more pasta water as needed. If it seems too liquidy, just let it sit for a little while.
- Add the juice and zest of one lemon, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, and the cooked zucchini to the pasta and stir together. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese, crushed red pepper, and extra olive oil drizzled on top if you want to.
Notes
- While this recipe technically serves four according to the serving size for pasta, I’d plan on it serving 2-3 normal, hungry, adult humans for a meal unless you plan on serving as a side or first course.
- You can substitute the zucchini for another vegetable like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peas, or even a leafy green like spinach, chard, or kale. This is a great way to use what’s in season or what you already have! Different veggies require different cooking times, so adjust as necessary. You can also try using a spoonful or two of pesto instead of fresh basil, or use other seasonal delicate herbs.
- Zucchini vary so much in size, but the exact amount you use doesn’t matter much here. Mine was about 3 cups total sliced zucchini.
- If by some miracle you have leftovers, I recommend stirring a little more of the reserved pasta water in with them before storing in the fridge. This will help the pasta not dry out (I do this with basically all leftover pasta dishes).
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Susan Powis
A fabulously simple but very tasty recipe. My pasta of choice is Rummo or De Ceccho. I added a tbsp of chopped, fresh garden herbs, a pinch of garlic powder and, at the end, a spoon of creme fraiche to stir through..
Elizabeth Lindemann
Love the idea of using creme fraiche! Thanks so much for chiming in!