Creamy lemon and pea lentil pasta
17 min · 39 g protein · 445 cals / serving
A bright, creamy weeknight pasta with no sauce to cook: red lentil pasta and sweet peas tossed with a whipped ricotta and cottage cheese sauce, parmesan, lots of lemon and a splash of the pasta water, plus a handful of spinach that wilts in the heat.
Ingredients
- 1 box (8 oz) dry red lentil pasta, red lentil penne or fusilli (about 535 g cooked)
- 2 1/3 cups cooked frozen green peas
- 2 cups cottage cheese (1%)
- 2/3 cup part-skim ricotta
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, plus a little to serve
- 2 tsp lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup water, pasta cooking water
- 5 handfuls baby spinach
- a handful fresh basil, torn
Steps
- Cook the lentil pasta in a large pot of salted water for 1 minute less than the packet says, adding the frozen peas for the last 2 minutes. Scoop out a mug of the cooking water, then drain.
- While the pasta cooks, blend the cottage cheese, ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt and pepper until smooth (a stick blender in the serving bowl is quickest).
- Tip the hot pasta and peas into the bowl with the spinach and half a cup of the cooking water and toss until the sauce turns glossy and the spinach wilts; add more water if it looks tight. Finish with basil and a little more parmesan.
Good to know
Lentil pasta goes mushy. How do I avoid it?
Start tasting 2 minutes before the packet time and drain while it still has bite; it keeps softening in the sauce. Do not rinse it.
With ordinary pasta?
Wheat pasta makes a softer, more classic dish with half the protein, at about 60 instead of 65.
Per
- Calories
- 99
- Protein
- (37%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (16%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (47%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 224 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1780 kcal goes into the pot and 1830 g of ingredients comes out as about 1795 g of food: 99 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.