New Recipe: Garlic Pasta Salad

So remember how I said I was going to cook for one? Well, on the positive side of things, I have been cooking for myself. On the other hand, cooking for one went out the window and instead I decided to make enough food for a small army.

The other week on pinterest, I came across a recipe for Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad posted by Budget Bytes. The recipe demonstrated how to roast garlic, and looked delicious, but being the impatient woman I am, I didn't want to wait the very long two minutes and go through the work of roasting the garlic myself, so I amended the recipe and used pre-minced garlic.

This recipe took no time at all to make and was incredible. The only downside was that I made a pound of the pasta salad late last week (I must be in denial that Jesse is in Rhode Island) and I wasn't around to eat it this past weekend.

You only need a few items to get started:

• Minced Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Pasta Shells
• Ricotta Cheese
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Baby Spinach

First bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add the pasta, and cook for 7-10 minutes or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking, add the minced garlic to a medium bowl along with the ricotta cheese, a healthy dose of freshly cracked pepper, and about 1/2 tsp of salt.

 
Once the pasta finished cooking, add the 1/2 cup of hot, starchy pasta cooking water to the Ricotta-garlic mixture.

Stir until it forms a smooth sauce.

Drain the pasta. Return the drained pasta to the warm pot (the burner should be turned off). Add the fresh baby spinach and pour the ricotta sauce over top.

Slice the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pot as well.

 Stir until everything is well mixed.

Add in the parmesan cheese and stir again. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm!

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