A lot of what I cook is heavily influenced (or a direct copy of…) something my Mum or Nunna cooked for me growing up. This delicious, simple pasta which I almost always have all of the ingredients for is one of those recipes and I make it at least once a month, especially now I have Alexander who absolutely loves it (and it works really well as a side with some penne or spirals for his little pasta-loving belly).

It does contain eggs but if eggs can’t be on the menu at your house for any reason, 'I’d add a littlestock or even cream to the ricotta to loosen it up and a whole lot more pasta water when mixing it through the pasta as an egg-free alternative.

If you can’t go a day without meat, some cooked bacon or prosciutto would work well on top, too.

Mum would make this often when I lived at home (which was over 12 years ago now! Crazy…). It was a kind of go-to when nothing was planned for dinner - ’I’ll just make ricotta pasta’. Now it serves as the kind of two-minute-noodles of my life, even though my hubby still likes actual two minute noodles occasionally (I can take them or leave them, I’ve never understood the fuss!).

It’s quite a heavy pasta dish which is why I don’t use as much spaghetti as I usually do, but feel free to use more.

RICOTTA & PEA PASTA
Serves 2

Ingredients;
- 120g of spaghetti (or your favourite pasta)
- 1/3 of a cup of frozen peas
- 1/3 of a cup of ricotta
- 1/3 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- Black pepper, to taste.

Method;
1. Cook the pasta with the peas in well salted water as per packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the egg, ricotta and parmesan with a generous amount of black pepper (the pepper is optional but particularly delicious in this dish).

3. Drain the pasta, reserving at least half a cup of the cooking water.

4. Return the pasta to the pot and stir the ricotta mixture through with a splash of pasta water. Add more pasta water if needed.

5. Serve immediately topped with extra black pepper.

Maybe this isn’t my two minute noodles, maybe it’s more my mac’n’cheese, though I do still make mac’n’cheese I have to say,

Next time you have ricotta you’re not sure what to do with, give it a go! Super delicious and much quicker than one of my favourite things ever to do with ricotta - make gnocchi (and my almost-3-year-old loves it so hopefully your kids will to!).

Nat x

I can’t remember exactly where I got this flavour combination from that I’ve come to love so much, but I do know it was many, many years ago as I loved making it from the moment M and I moved into our home together (which is coming up on 12 years ago, which is crazy to think about).

With the tomatoes going crazy in my garden and the mint slowly calming down after a really bushy summer, it felt like the perfect time to share.

Sultana Tomato Mint Spaghetti Recipe nataliezee.com — Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

It took a while for this dinner to grow on M who has long believed anything with mint in it just ‘all tastes like mint’, (which I wholeheartedly disagree with, but I love mint!). This recipe is one made after many tweaks. I only settled on these quantities after he told me one night, with an empty bowl in front of him, ‘That wasn’t bad, it was actually nice’.

Hooray!

Alexander also loves it because he absolutely lives for tomatoes, sultanas and pasta. I’ve included a note on the bottom of how I serve it to my 2yo…

SULTANA, MINT AND TOMATO SPAGHETTI

Serves 3 (or 2 with left overs for lunch the next day)

Ingredients;
- Six large tomatoes cut into wedges
- One medium bulb of garlic
- A handful of fresh mint (or more, if you love mint like I do)
- 1/3 of a cup of sultanas
- 250g of spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
- 1/3-1/2 a cup of ricotta
- Salt, pepper and olive oil.

Method;
1. Preheat your oven to 160c. Place your tomatoes and whole bulb of garlic in a deep roasting pan with a generous glug of olive oil. Toss, and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes are jammy and sweet, and the garlic bulb is soft.

2. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil and cook your spaghetti as per pack instructions.

3. Before draining the spaghetti reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water, then add the sultanas to the pot and leave for 30 seconds before draining (this helps them heat up).

4. Add the pasta and sultanas back to the cooking pot. Cut the top off the garlic bulb and squeeze in the roasted garlic, add the tomatoes and their juices and stir through. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if it seems a little dry (I usually don’t need it with the tomato juices).

5. Plate the pasta and dollop with ricotta, tear some fresh mint on top and add salt, pepper and an extra drizzle of olive oil to serve.

How I serve this to my 2yo;

Dice fresh tomato on the plate
Stir ricotta through the pasta with some of the tomato juices and garlic
Serve sultanas separately
I always include everything we’re eating, so I put some of the large fresh mint leaves on his plate to explore and bite (which he always does!).

This is a recipe I’d REALLY love to hear if you try because it’s so close to my heart (I know that sounds ridiculous, but I feel like it’s a little bit of a risk every time I serve it!). Let me know on Instagram, Facebook or send me an email - natalie@nataliezee.com

I hope you love it!

Nat x

(PS. I wrote this today listening to Alexander running around the backyard with a remote control monster truck and yelling, ‘Run faster Daddy! Run faster!’. I could not imagine a better background noise!).

Mum's Ricotta & Pea Pasta

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti

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