Pasta with Artichoke Pesto Recipe
Artichokes, ricotta, lemon, and herbs combine for a quick and elegant pesto. Toss it with pasta for an easy meal, or nix the pasta and pasta water to serve it as a dip with crackers.
What to buy: To avoid strange flavor combinations, look for canned artichoke hearts that are not seasoned (i.e., that are packed in water, not oil and herbs).
Store-bought ricotta cheese is fine to use, or you could try your hand at making your own.
Any kind of short, tubular pasta or other small, shaped pasta will work in this dish. We especially like it with rigatoni.
Game plan: You can make the pesto in advance—just pull it out of the refrigerator and give it a quick stir right before you serve it. It will stay fresh, covered and refrigerated, for 1 week.
This recipe was featured as part of our Easy Weeknight Dinners photo gallery.
- 2 cups canned whole artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained, and halved (from 2 [14-ounce] cans)
- 1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese (about 4 ounces)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 packed teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (from 1/2 medium lemon)
- 1/3 cup packed finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound dried pasta, such as rigatoni, ziti, penne rigate, conchigliette, or farfalle
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
- In a blender or food processor, purée the artichoke hearts, ricotta, and olive oil until smooth (it will resemble hummus). Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the lemon zest and basil; taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain.
- Return the drained pasta to the pot and place over medium heat; add the artichoke pesto and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water. Stir until the cheese begins to melt and the ingredients are thoroughly combined, adding more pasta water by the tablespoonful as needed until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately.
Beverage pairing: Hirsch Grüner Veltliner #1&, Austria. They say artichokes are hard on wines, but Grüner always seems to do the trick. It packs its own lemon, mineral, and green herb flavors and a lot of sunny acidity to keep things lively.
i followed this recipe exactly and am sorry to say I found it pretty revolting. I really wanted to love it, being that I love all of the ingredients it calls for, but the artichoke pureed with the ricotta makes a weird fibery-paste...hardly a 'pesto', nor was it 'creamy'. the lemon and basil are too weak to make this dish flavorful...I tried adding garlic and parsley at the end to make it edible,...+READ
i followed this recipe exactly and am sorry to say I found it pretty revolting. I really wanted to love it, being that I love all of the ingredients it calls for, but the artichoke pureed with the ricotta makes a weird fibery-paste...hardly a 'pesto', nor was it 'creamy'. the lemon and basil are too weak to make this dish flavorful...I tried adding garlic and parsley at the end to make it edible, but it didn't help. The texture is gag-worthy and it's overall quite bland. I was hungry but I couldn't even finish a cup of this stuff.-COLLAPSE
I hate to say it but I thought this was awful. I followed the recipe exactly except I made the pesto (although it can hardly be called one) 2 days in advance. I could really taste the lemon but there was no flavor tension, the sauce was lemony without being salty or tangy or anything else, and overall just tasted bland. I added some sliced grilled chicken on top to make it a little more savory...+READ
I hate to say it but I thought this was awful. I followed the recipe exactly except I made the pesto (although it can hardly be called one) 2 days in advance. I could really taste the lemon but there was no flavor tension, the sauce was lemony without being salty or tangy or anything else, and overall just tasted bland. I added some sliced grilled chicken on top to make it a little more savory and interesting but that didn't do much. The sauce melted into a nice consistency when heated with the pasta but that's about all that was good. I can't imagine how this would be as a cold dip (or are you supposed to heat it?), it was so boring to taste! I would recommend to anyone who tries this to not waste fresh ricotta on this, if you have to try it maybe use regular store-bought instead.-COLLAPSE
This sounds light and delicious. I have made one by sauteing garlic, onion, sun-dried tomato, marinated artichoke hearts, a little crumbled smoked salmon, and greek olives cut in large pieces at the end. I add some light cream or non-fat cream just to make it a little saucier, then dump in whatever pasta - penne or something - stir, grate romano cheese on top. You could do a lot with this idea....+READ
This sounds light and delicious. I have made one by sauteing garlic, onion, sun-dried tomato, marinated artichoke hearts, a little crumbled smoked salmon, and greek olives cut in large pieces at the end. I add some light cream or non-fat cream just to make it a little saucier, then dump in whatever pasta - penne or something - stir, grate romano cheese on top. You could do a lot with this idea. Yummy. I love the idea of lots of lemon. Am going to make this tonight with added beet greens!!-COLLAPSE
This was excellent paired with Charles Krug Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
I agree wholeheartedly with kitchenmagicmarion. Roasted garlic sounds terrific, but I hadn't read that yet, and I thought bitter greens would balance the creaminess, though I may have added too much fresh ricotta. Given that misstep, I tried broccoli rabe sauteed in oil with some garlic, but that was too much bitter. Swiss chard sauteed the same way (greens sauteed in garlic with onions has...+READ
I agree wholeheartedly with kitchenmagicmarion. Roasted garlic sounds terrific, but I hadn't read that yet, and I thought bitter greens would balance the creaminess, though I may have added too much fresh ricotta. Given that misstep, I tried broccoli rabe sauteed in oil with some garlic, but that was too much bitter. Swiss chard sauteed the same way (greens sauteed in garlic with onions has become a backbone for me), added after pureeing the artichokes and ricotta was a better combination, adding both color and counterpoint.-COLLAPSE
I was very attracted to this for pantry reasons, but also constricted for pantry reasons. Consequently, I used spinach fettucine instead of a shorter pasta. I forgot the garlic, which is probably a wonderful addition (and roasted garlic should not be forgotten in the processing, I think). I had the perhaps dubious resource of homemade ricotta made from organic milk, which is a little denser than...+READ
I was very attracted to this for pantry reasons, but also constricted for pantry reasons. Consequently, I used spinach fettucine instead of a shorter pasta. I forgot the garlic, which is probably a wonderful addition (and roasted garlic should not be forgotten in the processing, I think). I had the perhaps dubious resource of homemade ricotta made from organic milk, which is a little denser than most packaged ricotta (unless you take the time to drain it) and in my case not as curdy. Because I was eating it as a main course, I added some canned Italian tuna (Genova) packed in water. It was excellent tuna, and also added a sweetness to what seemed to me otherwise too sour. However, I was using bottled artichokes that I had to rinse to get rid of the so-called "flavoring." I think with freshly cooked artichoke hearts and bottoms it would be enhanced -- but why bother for a perfect spur-of-the-moment post-Thanksgiving light dinner? This is a great invention on its own, and offers lots of opportunities for riffs.-COLLAPSE
I made this for my Red Hat group's pot luck as an appetizer with sliced baguette. I thought there was too much lemon taste and not enough depth of flavour so added minced garlic and some sea salt with dried tomatoes and herbs (Epicure Selections Giardino salt). Still didn't give it enough flavour so split the dish. I added diced feta cheese to one, heated it until just hot and served that along...+READ
I made this for my Red Hat group's pot luck as an appetizer with sliced baguette. I thought there was too much lemon taste and not enough depth of flavour so added minced garlic and some sea salt with dried tomatoes and herbs (Epicure Selections Giardino salt). Still didn't give it enough flavour so split the dish. I added diced feta cheese to one, heated it until just hot and served that along side the chilled one without the feta. Most of the women preferred the one with the feta.-COLLAPSE
This is so delicious! Added a clove of garlic (can't live without it) and used spinach rotini instead of white pasta and it was super tasty. Thanks!
This sounds great! I'm going to have to make it! And of course post back!