Recipe of the Week: Swiss Chard and Lemon Ricotta Pasta

We’re so excited to have baby chard in our boxes this week, a wonderfully refreshing addition. This is a smaller recipe for 2, but if you have extra greens such as spinach or kale, you can include them with the chard and up the recipe. This recipe is adapted from Food52 and The Wimpy Vegetarian.

• 1 bunch raw swiss chard, sliced  (including stems)
• 1 handful dried spaghetti noodles
• 1-2 strips bacon, cut into 1/4″ slices
• 1/4 large shallot, minced
• olive oil as needed
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
• zest from 1/2 small lemon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, to taste
• pinch dried red pepper flakes

Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Blanch the Swiss chard for 5 minutes. Scoop out the chard, and drain well, squeezing out as much of the water as possible. Chop again and set aside.

Keep the pot of water boiling, and add the spaghetti noodles. Follow the directions on the packet for making the spaghetti. Drain and set aside, retaining about 1 cup of liquid from cooking the noodles.

Fry bacon until just crispy. Add the shallot and saute until soft, adding olive oil if needed.

Add the Swiss chard and toss well to break up the chard clumps.

Combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses in a small bowl, and add the lemon zest, salt, and red pepper flakes. Add to the Swiss chard mixture in the saute pan and mix well.

Add cooked spaghetti, and some of the pasta water as needed.

Serve warm.