Pasta Shells with Ricotta, Semi-dried Tomatoes and Peas

Note to self: do not take photos for the blog when it’s dark outside, especially with your iPhone. It will not do. I kind of wasn’t planning on blogging this recipe. I cooked it on Sunday night, after a big day out. It was sort of just something I ‘threw together’ at the last minute with a few ingredients I had around the place.

When I tasted it though, I knew that I couldn’t not blog about it. It tasted really light and fresh yet creamy at the same time. The best thing as well is how quickly it all came together. It literally took as much time as it took to cook the pasta.

So please look past the terrible photography and trust me, you will love this simple tasty pasta dish.

(By the way, this is for two generous servings, you might want to double the quantities if you’re cooking for the family).

INGREDIENTS

250g pasta shells

1 1/2 cups full fat fresh ricotta cheese (from the deli counter)

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup semi dried tomatoes, well drained and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint

salt, pepper to taste

METHOD

Fill a medium pot with cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, generously salt the water then add the pasta shells. Cook for 10-12 minutes or follow the directions on the packet for the exact timing.

Whilst the pasta is on the boil, prepare the rest of the ingredients (chop garlic, mint etc).

Place a frying pan onto a medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pan then add the garlic, chilli flakes and peas. Saute for around 2 minutes or until the peas are heated through. Turn the heat off and set aside.

Drain the pasta, but reserve approximately 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Dump the pasta and reserved cooking water into the pan with the reserved garlic, chilli and peas. Add the semi dried tomatoes, parmesan and ricotta cheeses, mint and salt and pepper to taste. Stir through until combined.

Serve with some extra grated parmesan on top.

Tagged as: dinner, pasta, quick and easy, ricotta, semi dried tomatoes, tag3, vegetarian