Lemon Ricotta Spaghetti with Arugula
Food 52
- 1/2 pound spaghetti [I use whole wheat but use whatever you prefer]
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced lengthwise as thinly as possible
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, from
- 1-2 lemons juice from 1 lemon
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 cup fresh ricotta, homemade or best quality
- 4 to 6 tablespoons leftover ricotta whey or leftover pasta boiling water
- 4 cups lightly packed arugua salt
- Bring a pot of well salted water to boil
- While the water is coming to a boil, slice the garlic and put a small saute over low heat. Add the olive oil, the garlic, and a nice pinch of salt. Let the oil and garlic slowly heat up. You don't want the garlic to brown. You are just warming the oil and letting garlic infuse it.
- While the oil and garlic are doing their thing, zest the lemon and wash and dry the arugula.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and reserve some pasta water if you don't have any ricotta whey.
- Once the pasta is boiling, turn the heat under the saute pan to as low as it goes and add the ricotta, lemon zest, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. You just want it all to warm it up while the pasta is cooking.
- Once you drain the pasta, add it to the saute pan and toss well. Add 1/4 cup of whey or cooking water and the arugula and toss again to coat and wilt the arugula. If you feel it is too dry, add up to 2 more TB of whey or cooking water. Taste for salt and add the juice from 1/2 a lemon and toss once more.
- Serve, topping each bowl with a few sprinkles of coarse salt or fleur de sel and a few drops of lemon juice.
