The recipe

2 servingsabout 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 180 g rigatoni
  • 200 g fresh leaf spinach, trimmed
  • 150 g ricotta
  • 15 g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small pinch nutmeg, salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat salted water for the rigatoni. Wash and drain the spinach, peel and lightly crush the garlic, and grate the Parmesan.
  2. Warm the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Gently warm the garlic in it for about 30 seconds without allowing it to darken.
  3. Add the spinach, cover and wilt for about 3 to 4 minutes. Cook longer if necessary until the tender stems are soft too. Uncover for another 1 to 2 minutes to evaporate excess water.
  4. Remove the garlic. Finely chop the spinach on a board and return it to the pan. Meanwhile, time the rigatoni according to the packet and cook al dente; reserve a cup of cooking water.
  5. Mix the ricotta with an initial 50 ml of hot cooking water. Combine with the spinach, nutmeg and pasta over the lowest heat for about 30 to 60 seconds. Avoid vigorous boiling.
  6. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the Parmesan and add more water by the tablespoon if needed. Season with salt and pepper and immediately divide between two plates.

Prepare the spinach and keep the ricotta loose

For this recipe, use 200 grams of fresh leaf spinach weighed after trimming. Wash it thoroughly and drain well. Remove very thick stems, leaving tender ones attached. Baby spinach and larger leaves wilt at different speeds; look for soft leaves without hard stem pieces. Frozen spinach cannot simply use the same short cooking time. Follow its package preparation instructions first, then remove excess water before using it in the sauce.

The ricotta should coat the pasta rather than form a firm mass. Stir it smooth with an initial 50 millilitres of hot pasta water. Add further liquid by the tablespoon later. In this version, the spinach is chopped rather than blended, leaving small green pieces visible in the pale sauce. Begin with a tiny pinch of nutmeg. You can add more when tasting, whereas an overpowering amount is difficult to correct.

Coordinate the saucepan and frying pan

Put the pasta water on first and prepare the spinach and cheese while it heats. The sauce comes together quickly. Time the rigatoni according to the packet so that they can go into the prepared pan. Here, the garlic is a lightly crushed whole clove, removed before chopping the spinach. It flavours the oil without leaving raw pieces in the finished sauce.

After the spinach has wilted, briefly cook it uncovered to evaporate visible liquid. Reduce the heat substantially before adding the ricotta. The mixture should become hot without boiling vigorously or drying onto the pan. Al dente pasta needs only about thirty seconds to a minute of mixing. Incorporate the Parmesan off the heat at the end. If the sauce becomes too thick, loosen it with a little reserved cooking water and serve immediately.