Lemony Pasta

     Hello!  It's Recipe Tuesday and today's recipe comes from an issue of Family Circle magazine.  Lemony Pasta is super easy to make and can feed a family of four or would make a great dish to take to a pot luck gathering.  We make this as a side dish but you could easily add sliced chicken breast for some protein.

     A few tips... The original recipe called for 5 tablespoons of lemon juice (juice from 2 lemons) but I love lemon flavor so I usually add 7 tablespoons (juice from 2 1/2 lemons) and then sprinkle a bit on top just before serving.
     I'm not a fan of asparagus so I omitted that ingredient and replaced with another green veggie, peas.  This dish is best served warm but does work well as a cold pasta salad.

Lemony Pasta
15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
5 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pound penne pasta
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil.  Cook penne pasta according to package directions.  Add asparagus  to pot for final 7 minutes of cooking time.  Set aside 1 cup pasta water, then drain pasta mixture and place in serving bowl.

2. In small bowl, whisk together ricotta, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper.

3. Add ricotta mixture and bacon to pasta and stir well to combine, adding reserved water by the 1/4 cupful is needed (I don't need to do this).  Serve immediately.