Alright, first things first… I am a BAD food blogger. Why? I took a grand total of zero pictures of this dish. I guess you are just going to have to go on faith. That said, let me see if I can make you take that leap with a little more confidence. I am not the originator of this recipe. I adapted it from Milk Street’s Rigatoni with Pistachio, Ricotta and Herb Pesto. I adapted it because I was ill prepared. So, not only am I a bad food blogger but I am a bad home cook since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. But, I feel that my substitutions held up. Since I will tell you what I substituted, you could make it either way. Totally up to you.
Note – This can be made gluten free which I did since, well, I am gluten free. Only the pasta is the glutenous ingredient. Personally, I like Taste Republic fresh gluten free pasta made by the RP pasta company. It tastes better than most out there.
What I liked about this recipe is the great pistachio flavor. While I added the amount that the recipe called for in the sauce, I added more than required after the fact. It’s also going to be no surprise that this is a very hearty meal. Pasta… Cheese… Nuts…. Rib stickin’ goodness. Hey, at 6’2” 215, I know I am a husky guy and I like to eat good food. If you don’t want things to be as “dense.” you can lighten the sauce with pasta water. I did but YMMV.
Alright, here goes. I am not going to tell you how to make the pasta or which pasta to make. That’s on you. What I will say is that there was more than enough sauce for 2 12 oz. packages of pasta. Making the sauce. you need the following:
- 1 container of good whole milk ricotta cheese (calls for 1.3 cups, I just used 1 complete container – use less or more)
- 3/4 cup of raw pistachios (whole) and 1/4 cup chopped for garnish (called for 2 tablespoons)
- 1 cup of arugula (I basically used around 2 handfuls perhaps 2.5 oz. but the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of loosely packed basil)
- 1/3 cup of goat’s milk mild cheddar (recipe calls for 2 oz. of parmesan)
- 2Tbs of EVOO
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon (which is uncalled for)
- Cut chives (for garnish unused because I am still a bad home cook)
- Penzey’s Italian Herbs seasoning (The garnish I used instead)
Basically, take all of the ingredients and put them all in a blender (minus the garnish items) and blend until smooth. You could probably blend/grind the nuts first but I think some of the oils and flavors might get lost so you may have to blend for a full minute or two. Once your pasta is cooked, drain and save some liquid and put it in a large bowl. “Pour” the sauce onto the pasta and mix to coat. Perhaps you may not want to put all the sauce on depending on how creamy you want it to be. Once combined, add the garnish and serve.
YMMV…
In brief... budding blogger, SQL DBA, home chef, studio musician (guitar/pedal steel), amateur photographer, husband, father, dog owner, scotch drinker and all around crazy person.
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