Pasta with sun-dried tomato ricotta pesto. This creamy red pesto could very well be your next obsession. The hearty sun-dried tomato ricotta pesto is a velvety, flavor packed sauce that might make you crave for pasta night. It’s bright, light and satisfying.
Why you’ll love this pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto and ricotta
Pesto is an insanely flexible and delicious sauce. In this recipe, we use semi-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, ricotta and a little bit of delicate white miso for an intensely vibrant, smooth pesto. Because the sauce is so rich, we can keep this dish simple and only add crispy baked pancetta. Once the pasta is cooked, we toss it with the pesto and top with toasted pine nuts. It’s ready in no-time and incredibly delicious.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
Helpful tips
- pesto and pasta are a match made in heaven, but this pesto is also heavenly when spread onto sandwiches stuffed with roasted vegetables
- no pancetta? Use bacon or swap it for shrimps. Or leave it out for a brilliant vegetarian dinner
- serve with a simple salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Storage
Keep leftovers refrigerated in airitight containers for up to 3 days.
You might also like
- Red Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms and Sun-dried Tomatoes
- Eggplant Miso Pesto Pasta
- Buttery Mushroom & Chickpea Pesto Pasta
Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Ricotta Pesto
Ingredients
- 7 ounces pasta - like rigatoni, paccheri or penne
- 6 ounces pancetta - or bacon, cut into cubes
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp pine nuts
- fresh thyme - for serving (optional)
Sun-dried tomato ricotta pesto
- 5 ounces sun-dried tomatoes - drained (oil reserved)
- 4.5 ounces ricotta
- 1 ounce toasted pine nuts
- ⅓ cup oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes - less or more to taste
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- Make the pesto. Add sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta, pine nuts, lemon juice, miso, chili flakes, smoked paprika and black pepper to your food processor. Purée until finely chopped. Add oil and process until smooth.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pancetta and cook, 3 minutes. Discard any excess fat from pancetta, if needed. Add pine nuts, cook, tossing often, until pancetta is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until soft over low heat, 1-2 minutes.
- Add pesto and bring to a simmer over low heat, about 1 minute. Just until warmth through and well combined with pancetta, then immediately turn off the heat. Add pasta and 1/4 pasta water, toss while adding more cooking liquid until pasta is glossy and well coated with sauce. Taste and add more black pepper if needed. (If you’re not using pancetta, taste and add salt).
- Divide pasta among bowls. Sprinkle with extra freshly ground black pepper and garnish with thyme, eat!
Video
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