As we shared this dish, Eryc, Ben, Sophia and I vigorously debated what rating to give it (my blog has become a family endeavor!) This is a tricky recipe to rate, because it was fundamentally good, but, at the same time, everyone had lots of ideas for improvement. Add crumbled bacon, crisped pancetta, toasted pine nuts, etc. Ultimately, the dish’s imperfections dropped it from a 4 to a 3. That said, it was simple and tasty, creamy without feeling at all heavy and made great use of crisp-tender fresh green beans and cherry tomatoes. My mom, Diana, brought me this cookbook, Giada’s Kitchen, this winter, and I love the simplicity of her recipes, her use of flavorful but easy-to-find ingredients, and, to be honest, the beautiful photographs of Giada. Truly, she’s spectacular!
Anyway... Sophia and I have been reading through this book, looking at pictures and talking about the things that are new to her, like yellow heirloom tomatoes and rasp graters (we have a weird household). I picked this because I like the idea of a creamy pasta without a lot of fat—it uses part-skim ricotta. Also, I have fallen in love with the texture of whole-wheat pasta, and have found that it holds up better as leftovers.
All in all, this was colorful, tasty and quick. I do think it needs the added dimension of pine nuts or pancetta, or perhaps a little warmth from red pepper flakes, and I might use a bit more green beans and tomatoes, since everyone here really loves their veggies.
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