Spring Fling pasta

I made this the other night for Esme and Mila when they came over for dinner; I know Mila likes white sauces more than red, so thought this would be an instant home run for her. But of course, as expected, both kids preferred to eat “smiles” and chicken nuggets, so the adults inhaled the pasta instead. This has a really nice fresh, light taste to it…I don’t have a lot of recipes with mint in them so I quite enjoyed this for a change.

Next time I might have to make up a pitcher of mojitos…you know, to use up the rest of the mint so it doesn’t go bad. Yaaah, that’s right.

Zucchini & Ricotta Pasta

4 cups pasta (shells, penne, rigatoni)
1/2 cup ricotta
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 medium zucchini (slice on bias)
1 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp fresh mini
2 tbsp green onion (green part, not white part)
2 tbsp lemon juice

Cook pasta in salted water; after it’s cooked, set aside 1/2 cup of cooking water and rinse the pasta.
In a large bowl, toss together pasta, ricotta, lemon rink, salt, pepper, and half of the reserved cooking liquid.

In saucepan, heat oil over medium heat, then sautee zucchini until tender, about 5 minutes. Add to pasta along with mint, green onion, lemon juice and enough of the remaining cooking liquid for desired creaminess (tossing to coat).