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Pasta and ricotta is a great combination, creamy and light at the same time. Add some zucchini and you have a complete meal on a pasta plate.
Cooking with ricotta
Ricotta is a cheese made by re-cooking (ri-cotta in Italian) the serum, called whey, is leftover after the milk has been curdled to make cheese. Therefore it is a cheese with a low-fat content. Usually made from cows milk, it can also be made from sheep or goats milk. Cow milk ricotta is better for making desserts as it has a milder flavour. In Sicily and in the South of Italy, it is often used in cooking, in particular, to make desserts in substitution of butter or cream. Delicious ricotta deserts are Cannoli Siciliani, Sfogliatella Napoletana, and the traditional Easter Pie Pastiera Napoletana. In savoury dishes, ricotta is used in quiche, pizza and lasagna. 
Ricotta and zucchini
For this pasta I combine the ricotta with zucchini, specifically zucchini Trombetta which I am growing in my garden. Zucchini Trombetta are long and curved zucchini shaped like a trumpet and they are typical of the Italian Ligurian region.
They are crunchy and have a distinctive flavour and if you want to know more about it you can read my article: The Amazing Zucchini Trombetta Albenga In the article, you will find additional zucchini recipes and you can make them with any regular zucchini.
If I cannot find zucchini Trombetta, I always buy small zucchini as they have fewer seeds and they are not too watery.
If you want to know more about unusual Italian vegetables, you can find the video of my morning trip to Ventimiglia market here below:
Other vegetables you can use with ricotta
In this pasta and Ricotta recipe you can substitute zucchini with many other vegetables. Ricotta combines well with many: spinach, tomatoes, artichokes, onion…
What also works well is a Soffritto (Italian) or Mirepoix (French) with onion, celery and carrot made stir-fried in butter. Sofritto or Mirepoix is the base for many Italian and French recipes and since I use it very often I always keep a bag of chopped onion, carrot and celery in my freezer.
So if I don’t have any other vegetables at home I can always grab a bag of Sofritto add some ricotta, boil some pasta and a meal is ready in a flash. If I have some, I will also add bacon to complete. If you want to know more about what I keep in my freezer, you can read the article: Once a Month Freezer Meal Prep 
How to make the zucchini and ricotta sauce
The ingredients to make the ricotta sauce are the following:
- 4 zucchini
- 1 garlic clove
- 9 oz – 250 g of ricotta
- 2 tbsp butter (I usually use butter when I use ricotta but you can use olive oil instead)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
First I cook the zucchini:
- Cut the zucchini into round slices
- Slice the garlic and stir-fry with butter and olive oil
- Add the zucchini
- Stir-fry until golden
In the meantime make the pasta
- Bring to boil a pot of water with a tbsp of salt
- Once it is boiling put in the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than what is written in the package
- Once it is done drain the pasta but remember to keep 2 tbsp of the cooking water
In this recipe, I used Rotelle pasta De Cecco as the shape is the same size as the trombette zucchini, but you can use any other type of pasta that will trap the ricotta within. For example Tortiglioni, Zita, Rigatoni, Paccheri, Gnocchi o Fusilli.
- Mix the zucchini with the ricotta
- Add 2 tbsp of water from the boiling pasta to soften the ricotta
- When the pasta is ready, drain it and add it to the zucchini
- Season with some parmesan and pepper and serve immediately
Tips for making the best pasta and ricotta
- Buy good quality ricotta
- Use a pasta shape that will trap the ricotta in between
- Keep the pasta al dente
- Combine with some stir-fried vegetables
- Stir fry with butter as it combines better with the ricotta
- For added flavour stir fry some bacon with the vegetables
- Add 2 tbsp of pasta cooking water to make the ricotta creamier
- Add plenty of parmesan and black pepper
- Serve immediately
If you are making this Pasta and Ricotta Zucchini Recipe, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.
Zucchini Recipe Pasta And Ricotta
Ingredients
- 4 zucchini
- 9 oz ricotta
- 1 clove peeled garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb pasta I am using the wheels
- 1 tbsp salt for the pasta
- 1 tsp salt for the zucchini
- Parmesan
- black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the zucchini into round slices
- Cut the garlic and stir-fry with butter and olive oil
- Add the zucchini
- Stir-fry until golden
- In the meantime boil the pasta
- Mix the zucchini with the ricotta adding 2 tbsp of water from the pasta boiling to soften the ricotta
- When the pasta is ready, drain it and add it to the zucchini. Season with some parmesan and serve immediately
Video
Notes
Tips for making the best pasta and ricotta
- Buy a good quality ricotta
- Use a pasta shape that will trap the ricotta in between
- Keep the pasta al dente
- Combine with some stir-fried vegetables
- Stir fry with butter as it better combines with the ricotta
- For added flavour stir fry some bacon with the vegetables
- Add 2 tbsp of pasta cooking water to make the ricotta creamier
- Add plenty of parmesan and black pepper
- Serve immediately
Nutrition
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I’ve never used ricotta cheese in pasta like this before… this looks super tasty! I can’t wait for baby zucchini to be available again too! Looking forward to warner weather. 🙂
Oh, yes. Me too. It has been raining non stop here
This pasta dish looks amazing. I love the ricotta and young zucchini combination. I’ll keep an eye out for these unique Trombetta zucchini.
Thank you, Michelle, I hope you find them. They are exceptional
It looks like super yummy and delicious. I hope to see zucchini in our market and try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I look forward to the summer zucchini