Meatless Monday: Pasta with Sweet Peas, Sugar Snap Peas, and Ricotta

Here’s another super easy meatless Monday recipe — courtesy of the new Everyday Food cookbook — that relies on spring produce.  The thing I love about this recipe is that other than chopping a tablespoon of fresh tarragon there is absolutely no chopping involved!  Perfect for a hectic weeknight (or for a gal who is nearly 41 weeks pregnant)!

A couple of very minor notes…I used penne because I had half a box in the pantry.  And, I also added 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese to the dish.  Because of the naturally salty flavor of the parmesan I didn’t really add any extra salt to the dish (other than salting the boiling water).

Our dinner was fresh, fast, and flavorful just like the cookbook title!

Pasta with Peas & Ricotta
Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 12 ounces gemelli or other short pasta (e.g., penne)
• 12 ounces sugar snap peas, stem ends and any strings removed
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh tarragon, plus sprigs for garnish
• 1 cup ricotta cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil; add a generous amount of salt.  Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions, adding snap peas 3 minutes before the end and frozen peas in the last minute of cooking.  Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables, and return them to pot.

Toss pasta and vegetables with butter, tarragon, and ricotta, adding enough reserved pasta water to create a thin sauce that coats the pasta.  Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, divide pasta among shallow bowls, and garnish with tarragon sprigs.

Serves 4.