Spinach and ricotta pasta

I made this the other day as we are trying to have a meat free couple of days a week and this is so tasty and filling you really don't miss any meat. This recipe feeds four generously in fact there was some leftover for lunch the next day. It is also quite inexpensive to make, I used two tubs of ricotta as I like a lot of sauce but you could probably just use one.  Also I usually defrost the spinach just in the microwave for a few minutes as often forget to take it out of the freezer in advance. 

I use frozen leaf spinach as it's very economical if you used fresh you would need at least 2 bags to get the same amount but word of warning please don't buy frozen chopped spinach it just sort of disintegrates when cooked but the frozen leaf spinach is perfect for this.

Spinach and ricotta pasta 

300g  dried tagliatelle (or whatever pasta you like)

1 clove garlic (crushed)

400g frozen spinach  (defrosted)

2 x 250g tubs of ricotta 

50g butter

grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper 

 

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or wok and gently fry the garlic, Add the spinach and stir into the pan. Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions and drain but reserve a half a mug of the pasta water this helps make the sauce creamy. 

Add the ricotta to the spinach and garlic and keep stirring and when the ricotta has melted with the spinach add the reserved pasta water and the cooked pasta, Season with salt and pepper and keep mixing well until the sauce is coating the pasta well. This can take a couple of minutes. 

Serve immediately with lots of grated parmesan cheese on top.  

Serves 4