macaroni & ricotta

My mom grew up in a small apartment in the Bronx as a family of six. She tells me they’d eat this dish all the time! It was considered a “peasant” meal because it’s cheap but can fill lots of bellies. I can vouch for that, since I’ve been eating it all my life. It’s easy and so good, either as a dinner or a side dish!

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6, cut recipe in half to serve 2-3)
1 lb short pasta of your choice (shells, cavatappi, penne, rigatoni are my favorites)

1 pint Galbani whole milk ricotta (it’s my favorite brand because it’s super creamy)

1/2 yellow onion, chopped small

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Reserved pasta water

Instructions:

Sauté chopped onion in vegetable oil on low heat until translucent.

Cook pasta in large pot according to package instructions. Be sure to salt the water thoroughly!

While pasta is cooking, spoon ricotta into a large bowl.

Add onions and all of the oil (use rubber scraper) to the ricotta mixture.

Season with salt and pepper.

Take about 4-6 large spoonfuls of the foamy pasta water and add to ricotta mixture to thin it out and create a sauce. It should be a little thinner than a smoothie and a little thicker than say, regular milk.

Add pasta, stir thoroughly, and eat immediately.

Mangia!