Healthy Cottage Cheese Pasta (Printable Version)
A quick 25-minute creamy pasta with cottage cheese, fresh vegetables, and herbs for a protein-rich light meal.
# What You Need:
→ Pasta
01 - 12 oz whole wheat penne or fusilli
→ Dairy
02 - 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
→ Vegetables
03 - 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
04 - 1 cup baby spinach
05 - 1 small zucchini, diced
06 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
→ Seasonings & Fresh Herbs
07 - 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
08 - 1 tbsp olive oil
09 - 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
10 - 1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
11 - Zest of 1 lemon
# How To Make It:
01 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water before draining through a colander.
02 - While the pasta cooks, warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Toss in the diced zucchini and halved cherry tomatoes, cooking for 4 to 5 minutes until just tender.
03 - Add the baby spinach to the skillet and stir gently until completely wilted. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
04 - Combine the cottage cheese, lemon zest, sea salt, and black pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend on high until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.
05 - Return the drained pasta to the large pot. Pour in the blended cottage cheese sauce and add the sautéed vegetables. Toss everything together thoroughly, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water to reach your desired sauce consistency.
06 - Fold in the chopped fresh basil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
07 - Divide among plates and serve immediately. Garnish with additional fresh basil leaves if desired.
# Helpful Hints:
01 -
- That cottage cheese trick makes the sauce silky without a drop of cream, and nobody at the table will ever guess the secret.
- It lands on the table in under half an hour, which means you can stop settling for sad desk lunches on busy weeknights.
02 -
- Do not skip blending the cottage cheese, because unblended curds swimming on pasta will confuse everyone and not in a charming way.
- The sauce thickens as it sits, so always loosen it with pasta water right before serving rather than expecting it to stay saucy on its own.
03 -
- Zest the lemon before you juice it for anything else, because trying to zest a spent lemon is a frustrating little kitchen failure you only make once.
- Warm the blender jar by rinsing it with hot water first so the cold cottage cheese does not shock the sauce temperature down.