Swiss Chard and Lemon Ricotta Pasta
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Author Notes: This is an easy, last minute dinner since you might have many of the ingredients on hand. If you don't have any swiss chard, kale, spinach and arugula also work great. If you use kale, I recommend removing the tough central stem. If you use either arugula or baby spinach leaves, you don't need to precook them at all; just toss them in at the end. The warmth of the pasta will sufficiently wilt them. - TheWimpyVegetarian
Food52 Review: Tender swiss chard, creamy ricotta cheese, crispy bacon, and lemon zest combine with spaghetti to create a dish that is brimming with fresh, lovely flavors. This dish comes together quickly and doesn’t feature unusual ingredients, making it perfect for a weekday dinner. I loved how nothing is wasted, the same pot is used to cook the pasta and chard and the bacon fat is left in the pan to flavor the pasta. A few notes: Chard cooks down, so I used 4½ cups rather than the 3 cups called for in the recipe. I also upped the ricotta cheese to ½ cup to make the sauce a little richer. - cookinginvictoria
Serves 4
- 3 cups raw Swiss chard, sliced (including the stems)
- 2 handfuls dried spaghetti noodles
- 2 strips bacon, cut into 1/4" slices or lardons
- 1/2 large shallot, minced
- olive oil as needed
- 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- zest from 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
- Pinch dried red pepper flakes
- Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Blanch the Swiss chard for 5 minutes. Scoop out the chard, and drain well, squeezing out as much of the water as possible. Chop again and set aside.
- Keep the pot of water boiling, and add the spaghetti noodles. Follow the directions on the packet for making the spaghetti. Drain and set aside, retaining about 1 cup of liquid from cooking the noodles.
- Fry bacon until just crispy. Add the shallot and saute until soft, adding olive oil if needed.
- Add the Swiss chard and toss well to break up the chard clumps.
- Combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses in a small bowl, and add the lemon zest, salt, and red pepper flakes. Add to the Swiss chard mixture in the saute pan and mix well.
- Add cooked spaghetti, and some of the pasta water as needed.
- Serve warm.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Dish with Meat as a Flavoring
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about 15 hours ago Kate's Kitchen
Yummy! Used Swiss Chard from my garden, upped the ricotta to 1/2 cup and added a little extra tablespoon or two of Parm. I would make it again. Used thin spaghetti pasta.
9 months ago AnnT
I've been meaning to try this ever since I first saw it on The Savory Notebook. I like your spaghetti substitution.
http://savorynotebook.blogspot...
9 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I've never heard of The Savory Notebook, so thanks for the link. Proof that some ingredients are just classic combinations for pasta dishes. I hope you give the dish a go, I think you'll like it. It's been one of my favorite go-to pasta dishes for the last year.
10 months ago lapadia
Hi! Made this recipe with spinach, what I had in the garden, love the creamy ricotta lemon flavor! Looked for the recipe on your website (to comment) but couldn't find it. Anyway, delicious recipe :)
10 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Hi Linda! Thanks so much. It's on my blog, but I'm woefully behind on indexing. This is a great reminder for me to get it done! Here's the link:
http://thewimpyvegetarian...
I'm so glad you tried it and liked it so much!!
10 months ago sue jacobs
I made this last night - WOW it was delicious! The only change i made was to double the ricotta and parmesan so it was cheesier, and added some lemon juice. I used the rainbow chard from my garden, and served with some chicken sausage on the side. A keeper!
10 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
So happy!!! I'm so glad you let me know how it worked for you!!
11 months ago srcerer
What a fantastic recipe! So lovely and summery. We loved it and will put it in our repertoire.
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I'm so glad you tried it and liked it so much. It's so easy to make too. Thanks so much for letting me know :-)
11 months ago Dabblings
I made this tonight with some of the chard from my garden. I also used some peas from the garden and subbed out the hot pepper flakes for one of my hot peppers. I may have also used a scotch more bacon and I doubled the ricotta and the parm. The end result was delicious. I will absolutely make this again. It was perfect for a week night dinner. Thanks for a great recipe :)
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it so much!!! You totally have made my day!
11 months ago Dabblings
*skosh more bacon...not scotch!
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
LOL :-) !! I figured. Although scotch sounds good right now too :-)
11 months ago sarcal
I absolutely can't wait to make this for dinner tomorrow!! Looks amazing! I love how lemon zest brings a brightness to dishes.
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Yes!! I totally agree. Lemon zest is amazing what it can do to a dish! Excited you're trying this; I really hope you like it!!
11 months ago EmilyC
Congrats on your CP, ChezSuzanne! This pasta looks lovely and I'm looking forward to trying it. Quick question for you: when you call for 2 handfuls of spaghetti, approximately how much is that? 1/2 lb? 1 lb?
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Thanks Emily! 1/2 lb should do it - that's usually what I use. Hope you like it!!
11 months ago Amy Doyle
At the farmers market Saturday, I bought some chard from the stand run by the community garden that recruits inner city kids and teaches them about gardening. I didn't have any ideas about what to do with it. I just wanted to support their worthy cause. This recipe sounds like it will be perfect for dinner tonight!
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I hope you enjoy it!!
11 months ago dianel
oops, that would be swiss !
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
:-) - I hope you give this a try and like it. It's one of my favorite pastas and frequently have it around in the frig.
11 months ago dianel
My rainbow swill chard is just coming into harvest so this is timely!
11 months ago creamtea
Congratulations, ChezSuzanne! Beautiful recipe!
11 months ago savorthis
Now I know what to make with all my rainbow chard. How springy and delicious.
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Thanks so much savorthis! Enjoy this week of being in the finals circle :-)
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
And big thanks to James Ransom for such a lovely photo of this recipe!
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Thanks cookinginvictoria for such a lovely review! I'm so glad you liked it. One of the things I like about this recipe is I can adjust it so easily for the amount of greens and creaminess I want. Thanks so much!!!
11 months ago gingerroot
Nearly always have swiss chard on hand thanks to my CSA and I can't wait to add this to the weekday lineup.
11 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Thanks so much gingerroot! I'd love to hear what you think if you try it!
12 months ago healthierkitchen
my kind of dinner!
12 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Thanks healthierkitchen! I make it every couple of weeks now - it's so easy :-)