by Amanda Makulec
A close friend of mine, who lived in Italy for a summer and loved all things Italian, handed me a bowl of this when I arrived at her porch one day, years ago, when we were in college together. She kept it simple: ricotta and garlic and butter mixed in to steaming hot pasta. And that was it. I've made it many times since then, adding herbs, lean Italian turkey sausage, veggies, and whatever else I have in my fridge. I like to make a nice batch of the basic pasta, with herbs, and then add things to it when I reheat it: that way your leftovers are never the same!
Ricotta & Herb Pasta
Cook pasta according to box directions (1 lb pasta to 1 15 oz tub ricotta).
When pasta is still hot, add 1 15 oz. tub of part-skim ricotta cheese, 4 minced garlic gloves, ground black pepper, and a hearty sprinkle of Italian seasoning (or shredded fresh basil if you feel so compelled...but the Italian seasoning is easy). Add crushed red pepper to taste if you want some heat.
Stir to combine, letting the ricotta "melt" onto the pasta.
And enjoy :) --- add chicken, Italian sausage, veggies, or whatever else if you like; I love making this with some lean, spicy italian turkey sausage and sauteed zucchini.
I lived just down the block from Trader Joe's when I was in graduate school, and discovered the joys of their $0.99 refrigerated pizza dough, particularly the whole wheat one. Who knew you could do so much with a bag of dough??? My favorite ways to use it always involved the creation of some sort of flatbread: roast veggie, margherita, and, my favorite, BBQ chicken. Using a rotisserie chicken keeps the price low, and you end up with leftover pulled chicken that you can toss on a salad (or into the Ricotta Pasta!).
The recipe for my BBQ chicken flatbread follows, but you can pretty much sub any sauce + any toppings + any cheese, and bake! Savory/spicy pumpkin sauce + roast veggies + feta is a favorite combination of mine; ask if you want the whole breakdown on how that one comes together!
BBQ Chicken Flatbread
Preheat over to 400 degrees.
Pull one rotesserie chicken into shreds, discarding skin and bones.
Spread one container of refrigerated pizza dough on an 11x15" pan.
Cover pizza dough in BBQ sauce of your choosing.
Sprinkle pulled chicken, chopped red onions, and 2% milk cheese (I like cheddar jack) on pizza.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Remove from onion and sprinkle with chopped green onions.