A quick and easy pasta tossed in a light and creamy lemon sauce, this Lemon Ricotta Pasta will be a hit!

This recipe was originally published February 9, 2021. It was updated on September 20, 2021.

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Article summary:

This 20-minute creamy Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Peas is guaranteed to spice up your spring menu. With a custardy sauce, bright lemon, chunks of crispy pancetta, and perfectly cooked green peas, this pasta is an impressive yet quick main dish! Read on to learn how to make this recipe, read recipe pro-tips, and more!

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If you're looking for an impressive restaurant-grade pasta dish you can make at home, I have you covered today with this Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Peas Recipe!

This recipe took me many tries (4 or 5 at my last count)to develop but the end result is so worth it. With a luscious and custard-like sauce, bright lemon, browned pancetta, and -- of course -- tender green peas, this pasta dish is one I now daydream about.

Featuring a cooking technique that is similar to pasta carbonara, the recipe requires you to be aware of your cooking timing and to work briskly, but please don't fret. Just read through the recipe once or twice before starting, stay focused and relaxed as you cook, and -- most importantly -- enjoy the process!

After all, the more relaxed you are when you cook the more you'll enjoy the experience (the rest of life is already stressful enough) and the better your food will taste. I'm always convinced that food cooked with love and intention is the best food.

So, treat your family to this pasta dish for your next Sunday dinner, whip up a batch for a romantic Valentine's day dinner, or treat yourself to a bowl tonight just for making it through the day. A little extra love -- in any form -- is never a bad thing, huh?

This creamy lemon pasta recipe is...

• Custardy
• Creamy
• Bright
• Lemony

Impressive and delicious but not laborious, this pasta recipe is a great new healthy dinner recipe!

Recipe ingredients

• Pasta - preferably a long shape like linguine, spaghetti, or bucatini
• Pancetta - cubed is best
• Frozen green peas
• Whole milk ricotta cheese - we need the extra fat of the whole milk ricotta to give us a luscious sauce
• Large eggs
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Lemon juice & zest - or 1 whole lemon, zested and juiced
• Salt

Ingredient substitutions:

This recipe is the best as-is, so do your best to grab all of the ingredients as directed (I promise it will be worth it!).

If you don't have or can't find pancetta, however, you can substitute the same amount of cubed guanciale sausage or ¼" sliced pieces of uncured bacon.

Notes on the cooking technique:

This pasta with ricotta recipe is similar to pasta carbonara in its overall technique, but it differs in its actual ingredients.

The technique of tossing hot pasta, cooked sausage (in our case, pancetta), and whisked eggs and cheese are similar. For this recipe, however, I also added in ricotta and lemon zest and juice for a different flavor and texture.

How to make creamy lemon ricotta pasta...

In this recipe, the key is to line up the pasta cooking time with the pancetta and peas cooking time so they're both hot when you toss them together!

1. Whisk together the eggs, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and ricotta in a medium-sized mixing bowl until combined.
2. Boil the pasta in heavily salted water according to package directions.
3. A few minutes into the pasta cooking time: saute the pancetta and peas together over medium heat until the pancetta is cooked through and golden.
4. Drain the pasta when it is al dente (tender and cooked through, but still firm to the bite).
5. Add the hot drained pasta to the pancetta pan with the heat still on the pan. Toss the pasta with the peas until combined.
6. Working quickly, add the ricotta sauce to the pasta and turn the heat off immediately. Toss the pasta in the sauce briskly until the sauce has thickened and is custardy.
7. Serve the pasta hot!

Recipe pro-tips:

1. Cook the pasta in heavily salted water. This adds flavor to the noodles.
2. Cook the pasta al dente. We want it cooked through and tender but still firm to the bite. The pasta will absorb the liquid of the sauce when we toss it together so we don't want it getting mushy.
3. Time your pasta and pancetta to finish at the same time. We will get the best results when the pasta and the pancetta are piping hot when we toss them together. To time them, follow the recipe directions or start cooking the pancetta 8 minutes into the pasta's cooking time.
4. Work quickly when you add the sauce to the pan. Time is of the essence but don't panic or rush.
5. Use whole milk ricotta. Skim milk ricotta lacks in flavor and mouth feel, greatly affecting the flavor of this dish.
6. Zest just the lemon zest, not the white flesh. The white flesh underneath the skin is bitter. The outer skin is all we need, so just zest the outer part of the lemon peel.
7. Serve the pasta immediately off the stove. This pasta is the best hot and fresh so tray it up as soon as the sauce has thickened up. So delicious!

A note on the eggs cooking in the sauce:

Some readers have expressed concern about the eggs not cooking completely in this sauce. If you have hot pasta, hot pancetta and peas, and turn the heat of the pan off just before you add the ricotta sauce, however, the eggs will cook through in the sauce. The residual heat of the pan combined with the hot pasta and pancetta grease will cook the eggs.

If you cook the ricotta sauce over heat the eggs, on the other hand, they will scramble and the sauce will split, leaving a sauce with an un-desirable texture.

Dietary adaptations:

Halving the recipe:

This recipe is best consumed fresh, so if you don't think you'll eat the full 8-10 servings within a day of making the dish, I recommend halving the recipe.

To halve this, just divide all the ingredients in half and follow the recipe as directed.

Tools needed to make this recipe:

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Citrus juicer
• Microplane/Lemon zester
• Whisk
• Medium-size mixing bowl
• Large stockpot or dutch oven
• Large skillet (preferably non-stick)
• Colander
• Pasta scooper
• Heat safe spatula or silicone spatula

More pasta recipes:

• Pesto Gnocchi
• Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
• No Boil Pasta Bake with Turkey
• Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta
• Turkey Bolognese
• Chicken Bolognese
• Baked Italian Sausage Casserole with Ricotta Cheese
• Italian Tuna Pasta Salad
• Instant Pot Beef Bolognese

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