Serves 6

This is Giada de Laurentiis’ dish and continues the theme that everything I have cooked of hers has been great.

It is an unassuming recipe and its simplicity is its strength; it’s clean, it’s healthy and it has a mellow, consistent and creamy texture. It’s also very tasty.

I don’t know if I’d serve it to the Queen Mother, though as a Monday night meal, it’s perfect.

For what it’s worth, I doubled some ingredients and this is reflected in the recipe below.

Ingredients

1 pack of Whole-wheat linguine
1 cup low-fat ricotta
3tbs olive oil
500g French green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1tsp salt
1/3 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 c halved cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, zested

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
2. Add the pasta and cook until cooked. Drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water.
3. Transfer the drained pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese and toss to combine.
4. Meanwhile, in a heavy pan, heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat.
5. Add the green beans, garlic, salt and pepper and sauté for 4 minutes. Add the cup of cooking water and continue cooking until tender; another few minutes, being careful not to overcook the beans.
6. Add the pasta with the ricotta to the pan, and toss to combine.
7. Add the tomatoes and gently toss.
8. Transfer to serving plate and top with lemon zest.