Creamy Spinach Ricotta and Mushroom Linguini

We are five days into February and so far it’s been a mixed bag of tricks with peaks and valleys.

Most of which had to do with that damn adorable fluffball, Junior.

Saturday, we had Wes’s sister, brother-in-law and nephews over for dinner to meet our kitty. I was fairly confident she was going to freak out and hiss at a child at least ten times in an evening.

Contrary to what I was expecting, Miss Hiss was perfectly pleasant and allowed lots of little petting and only managed to squeeke out one or two facial and verbal spasms.

Wes and I saw a light at the end of the tunnel to domestication. But my car broke down in the middle of that tunnel Monday morning when Junior freaked out on her trip to the vet to get spayed and bit my finger. Landing me in the doctors office this morning with a sweet infection.

Cooking with a swollen left index was a struggle, but I banged it out and it was damn tasty. This is a deconstructed version of the mushroom ravioli I served up a while back and it was just as tasty in a small portion of the time.

You will need…

¼ lb shitake mushrooms, stemmed removed and sliced

½ lb crimini mushrooms, stemmed removed and sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 slices pancetta, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 large shallot, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

4 cups spinach, plus extra if you would like some wilted spinach in your pasta

1 cup ricotta

1 lb dried linguini

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the pasta to the package instructions. Make sure to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add in the pancetta and cook until you have rendered out some of the fat. About 5 minutes.

Toss in the mushrooms and shallots and cook until the shallots soften, about 8 minutes.

While the mushrooms and shallots are cooking, blend the ricotta and 4 cups of spinach in a blender or food processor.

When the shallots have softened, toss in the thyme and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant. About 1 minutes. If you want to add some fresh whole spinach in, now would be the time. Stir it in until slightly wilted. 

Season the mixture well with salt and pepper and stir in the cooked pasta and the ricotta and spinach mixture. Pour in the reserved pasta water while stirring until the pasta is coated. 

Serve hot with Parmesan and fresh ground pepper.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela  

Creamy Spinach Ricotta and Mushroom Linguini 

¼ lb shitake mushrooms, stemmed removed and sliced

½ lb crimini mushrooms, stemmed removed and sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 slices pancetta, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 large shallot, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped

4 cups spinach, plus extra if you would like some wilted spinach in your pasta

1 cup ricotta

1 lb dried linguini

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Start by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the pasta to the package instructions. Make sure to reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add in the pancetta and cook until you have rendered out some of the fat. About 5 minutes.

Toss in the mushrooms and shallots and cook until the shallots soften, about 8 minutes.

While the mushrooms and shallots are cooking, blend the ricotta and 4 cups of spinach in a blender or food processor. When the shallots have softened, toss in the thyme and garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant. About 1 minutes. If you want to add some fresh whole spinach in, now would be the time. Stir it in until slightly wilted.

Season the mixture well with salt and pepper and stir in the cooked pasta and the ricotta and spinach mixture. Pour in the reserved pasta water while stirring until the pasta is coated. 

Serve hot with Parmesan and fresh ground pepper.