Fettuccine With Ricotta and a Fistful of Mint

By Sam Sifton

Published February 10, 2019

  • David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. Set a pot of nicely salted water over high heat to boil. When it does, add the fettuccine, then get the rest of your dinner ready as it cooks to al dente. Chop up a fistful of mint and a small shallot if you have one (half a small onion if you don’t), mixing them into a cup or two of fresh ricotta, then loosening the mixture with a healthy drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Add some salt and pepper to taste, perhaps a shake of red pepper. When the pasta’s done, which’ll be about the same time as you’re done with the sauce, drain it in a colander and add it to a big warm bowl, then fold the cheese into it, mixing gently. Serve to adoration. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.

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Comments

Jennifer

The adoration kicked in only after we made some major changes – goat's cheese for ricotta, basil for mint, and the juice of an entire small lemon (otherwise everything exactly as written). The ricotta and mint did not produce anything greater than the sum of its parts, but with extra lemon to lighten it the goat's cheese created a happy marriage with basil and this dish really began to sing!

Hope

I have trouble with raw alliums, too. Try chopping the shallot first and letting it steep in the lemon juice a bit before you add everything else. It takes very little time in the acid to soften the effect.

dimmerswitch

In the same theme as Dorie Greenspan's Spoonable Ricotta (Everyday Dorie), this rendition is really tasty too. Not just for pasta but to top potatoes. (I'm thinking this will be particularly good with new potatoes and Spring peas in market in a few weeks.) It is also yummy spread on toast. (Ask me how I know that.) Or as dip for veggies. Or to spread on crackers. Or to eat with a spoon. A good quality ricotta, like Bel Gioioso Con Latte, works as well in reduced fat as whole milk.

Chris

Where is the recipe ?

Lealan

Where can you buy really large, good chickpeas?

Every

How about creating variations on the basic recipe by substituting the mint with blanched broccoli, fresh green peas or even asparagus tips.

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