Foodie Fridays: Pasta with Ricotta and Peas

I am still on a quest to find recipes that will help me use up frozen peas.  I also continue to be obsessed with grain-free pastas made from legume flours.  When I found a Mark Bittman recipe for  Penne with Ricotta and Peas, I decided to change it up to satisfy both goals.  I doubled the amount of peas (as well as the sauce ingredients), and I substituted legume pasta for wheat pasta.  Since I did not have a pound of any one pasta shape, I used an 8-ounce box of Tolerant Simply Legumes Organic Green Lentil Pasta Penne plus the same amount of truRoots Organic Just Green Pea Fusilli Pasta.  I also added some crumbled bacon as recommended in one of the comments from someone who had made the recipe (because of my red meat allergy, I used al fresco Fully Cooked Uncured Chicken Bacon).

If you use wheat flour pasta, you can use the cooking liquid to thin out the ricotta sauce, but I do not recommend that with legume flour pastas (the cooking water becomes very thick and cloudy, like the liquid in canned beans).  I used chicken stock instead.  As you can tell from the image above, my pasta shapes fell apart when I started mixing everything together, mainly because I did not add the stock to the sauce until after I had added the pasta, so be sure to thin the sauce first and then add the pasta!  This recipe is really just a variation on macaroni and cheese, and it is the ultimate comfort food for cold weather like we have been having lately.

Pasta with Ricotta and Peas

16 oz. short legume pasta (or regular pasta)
2 C. ricotta cheese
2 T. butter, softened
1 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 C. chicken stock
2 C. frozen peas
6-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
salt and pepper to taste*

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the pasta, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for the amount of time recommended on the package directions (about 8 minutes for the pasta I used).  During the last few minutes of cooking, add the peas.  Drain and rinse the pasta and peas.

While the pasta cooks, combine the ricotta, butter, and Parmesan in a large bowl.  Add one cup of the chicken stock to create a sauce.  Toss the pasta, peas, and bacon into the ricotta mixture.  Stir and add enough of the remaining stock to thin the sauce to your desired consistency.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper as needed.  Serve immediately.  Serves 6.

*I always use unsalted stock, and ended up adding about 1 tsp. salt.  Always taste for seasoning before adding more salt!