Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta

This is one of my all time favorite meat free recipes from CL. If you don't like dill, this dish is not for you. This dish does not need bacon, nor does it need kale, and if you wilt the spinach it will lose the crispy texture and will water down the dish. It's delicious if you make it just as directed. It definitely does NOT need salt - if you salt the pasta water according to instruction it adds just the right amount of salt. My only complaint is that my sink is always full of dishes by the time I'm done making it, but it's well worth it. I have made this and brought it to cookouts, and my friends always go nuts for it. It always gets left out on the table because everyone keeps picking at it until it's gone.

I have been subscribing to Cooking Light since 1995 and this is one of my FAVORITE recipes! And my seven year old son requests it every week!

I thought this was a fabulous recipe. My husband and I both enjoyed even though we are not vegetarians. I substituted 1% lowfat cottage cheese for the ricotta to cut the calories and fat and the recipe was certainly not lacking because of that. I also tend to use whatever herbs I have on hand which will just change the flavor profile a little bit. Excellent go-to pasta recipe that is light and healthy!

Changed this recipe slightly to give it a little more flavor and kick. I used lemon pepper pappardelle and goat cheese instead of ricotta. Also added some thin-sliced serrano ham pieces. Pancetta or prosciutto would probably be tasty as well. I also omitted the dill as not a fan of it.

There are few recipes that I label a fail. This is amongst the few. I think that the ricotta really messed this dish up (and ricotta is on my top 10 favorite cheeses). If you really must try, I would suggest some SALT (bacon, ham, plain table). Also garlic and onion sauteed would make it more complex. Sorry cooking light, you really missed the mark on this one.

Glad I took the others suggestions & added in crumbled sausage, sauteed the spinach with garlic to ramp up the flavor. Probably won't make this dish again.

This was a good "starter" recipe or a good recipe to use as a side dish. In the issue it was featured in, it was for a meatless meal special, but I found it lacking without the addtion of sausage(which I added for my kids). I did wilt the spinach before with some garlic and decreased the dill like others recommended and I liked the end result. I would have actually added more spinach, but don't like to deter from the original recipe too much when making something for the first time. My husband, who loves Italian, said "I'd eat it again", but didn't go back for seconds, which speaks volumes in our house:).

I thought this was very good. Even the picky eaters in my house enjoyed it! It is very light and fresh tasting - don't expect a cream sauce. I've made it a few times and will in the future!

It seems like the spinach proportions were all off. It's possible I cooked it wrong. But, I did measure everything it out. It was bland.

This was quick, easy, and mega-herby! If you like dill, you'd love this. I used fettucine rather than pappardelle and pre-chopped parsley and dill in the tube (Gourmet Garden), which saved a lot of prep time. Only 9 pts.

I really liked it for its simplicity...it is one recipe if you do not use the best quality of ingredients it is going to taste like it...I followed the directions exactly and used fresh herbs out of my garden DH even liked it and he is super picky...I served this with broccolini which was a good compliment to the meal

I thought this was excellent! I wouldn't change anything! I can't understand the bad reviews....

This recipe was very disappointing. We love most Cooking Light Recipes and always have a wide variety of Cooking Light dishes in our freezer. Truly, Cooking Light deserves the credit for our being able to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. However, this is the first recipe that we have tried and decided immediately that it was not "a keeper."

Loved the ricotta-based sauce. For me, the dill was too strong and there was also to much spinach (plus, the picture shows it CHOPPED but the recipe doesn't, um, mention that step! I will definitely make this again because it's creamy without cream - a great alternative to red sauce. Next time I'll use just a TB or so of fresh dill. And a bit less of the chopped baby spinach. And I bet it's great with arugula - loved that suggestion and will try that as well! Wonder if I can make it lower in cholesterol? www.golowcholesterol.com

Excellent and delicious and easy.

Yummy! But I did back off by half on the dill and parsley per recommendations of other reviewers. I might back off on the dill a bit more if I'm not looking for that sunny spring taste. Would be good with a smaller serving and a grilled chicken breast!

Really disappointing! The amount of herbs called for by this recipe are way over the top! It might be edible if the dill and parsley are scaled way back. As is, I finished my plate only because I felt guilty throwing it away... unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing for the rest of my family.

My husband and I BOTH agreed that this recipe was a keeper! I did add some grated garlic to the hot water/ricotta mixture for some extra flavor. I thought I added too much parsley (it was all I could really taste), but my husband loooooved the dill flavor and did not notice the parsley. Just goes to show how different taste buds pick up on different flavors! I would also agree that the hot pasta and ricotta sauce was not enough to wilt the spinach, but both my husband and I preferred the taste and texture of the almost raw baby spinach in contrast to the creamy pasta. The only thing I might do different next time is perhaps add a little lemon zest to brighten up the flavors a bit.

This was pretty good and a very fast, easy dish for a springtime pasta that isn't too rich or heavy. I didn't use fresh dill so that may be why I didn't find the dill overpowering; I used a smaller amount of dried. Could barely taste it though so next time I would definitely use fresh (and maybe cut down a bit based on other reviews). I did use fresh chives and parsley and even though I cut down on the parsley I still felt it was a little strong. I also added a couple sliced portobello mushrooms that we had in the fridge - just cooked them until soft in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray - great addition. I didn't read the directions properly so I accidentally blended the entire cup of reserved liquid with the ricotta rather than half a cup - which was why mine was runny (I didn't subtract stars for that since it's my fault!) Used grated parmesan as pecorino-romano was too pricey. Sprinkled a little more on the bowls as well. I think garlic would be a great addition.

This dish was inedible. I tried to eat it and just couldn't. It tasted like warm milky goo. I kept wishing we'd made some mushroom, garlic and butter pasta dish. Definitely would not recommend.

My family really didn't care for this at all. I am a firm believer in not wasting food (if there is anything left in the fridge at the end of the week I figure out a way to use it) but I actually threw the rest of it in the trash after dinner.

I thought this was a good dish with a new technique (blending ricotta and pasta cooking water) that I can use for other pasta dishes. I used dried herbs and did not get the overwhelming dill flavor. The only thing I would do differently is to cut down on the amount of pasta cooking water, trying for a slightly thicker sauce. I think it's a really good recipe for Spring when we're all craving fresh veggies.

Although this dish looked healthy and a refreshing change, I was not that impressed. The amount of cooking liquid blended with the ricotta made it too thin and there was not much flavor. I left out the dill as I am not a fan of it so maybe that contributed to the lack of taste. Possibly a quick saute of the spinach would make for a better dish as I found the spinach to be too much. I served this with a marinated pork tenderloin.

I am giving it a one, as I would not try again. The dill was overpowering and the veggies, parsley, spinach etc too raw. Kinda runny too. There is a lemon asparagus pappardelle on this site which is much better.

This one didn't really work for us. I was disappointed because it looked and sounded so good. I wish I had read some of the reviews before trying it to perhaps make some of the suggested modifications, particularly wilting the spinach. I would also use about half the amount of dill.

Sorry, but with all the other great pasta recipes out there, we won't be doing this one again...at least we won't make it again as written. The pasta's too rich, the dill too strong and every bite tastes the same. It's a very rich dish without a lot of deep flavor. Just very heavy. A great disappointment, especially since it looks so good in the photo.

Sorry. We both agreed that this recipe just didn't taste that good to us. Made it exactly as called for and measured everything. Not much cheese flavor, but low on salt and other seasonings. The only flavor in it was the standout flavor of the dill, which was really unbalanced. In the "raw" green preparation, the dill really overwhelmed. Wouldn't make it again.

I had high hopes for this recipe, but the combination of the herbs turned out bitter to me. I liked the ricotta sauce and my try this recipe again with different herbs.

I made this last night and it's wonderful as it is written. If you can manage to not eat it all right away. It gets better overnight. For those who wanted their spinach more wilted, I mixed everything up in a bowl at the end and covered it with a plate to keep it warm while the Marinated Lamb (also from the same issue) was finishing up. The spinach wilted a little while in the covered bowl.

We loved this! We pretty much just stuck to the written recipe. It's nice to have a creamy, non-tomato pasta that isn't super rich but full of flavor!

Delicious! I liked the changes others made and the only addition that I would try next time is perhaps some mushrooms and extra pepper (I love pepper!). The amount of cheese was great. I didn't have fresh dill so I added dried and it was fine. I did add arugula and sauteed the spinach in advance as others advised and was glad I did. Great recipe! Easy to make would do it again.

I made this last night following the recipe exactly. Two things prevented me from rating this higher. Even with very hot pasta straight out of the water, the spinach did not fully wilt and was a little crunchy in the pasta. I think some people would like this, but next time I will microwave the spinach for 30 seconds before I pour the water off the pasta so it cooks more fully. Also, next time I will cut back on the dill from 1/4 cup to 2-3 Tablespoons. We grated more cheese on our pasta at the table, and really liked this dish. It was a perfect meatless meal; no need to add any meat. Really yummy.

Great recipe. Family enjoyed it and it was very easy to make. I do think it needs to be punched up a bit in the cheesyness category so may consider adding a bit more ricotta next time. also, perhaps a little less pepper.

This was really good - I followed the recipe almost exactly - the one thing I did add was a spoonful of ricotta in the bottom of each pasta serving bowl before adding the pasta, for a little extra cheese. The only thing I might do differently in the future is sautee the spinach with some garlic and olive oil beforehand, to wilt the spinach a bit more and add some additional flavor. I also may have gone a little overboard on the parsley, but that was my own fault. I would also consider adding some grilled chicken or crumbled sausage in the future.

This recipe is not called Pappardelle with Kale and Bacon. I SO wish that people who alter recipes would not then come and rate the recipe based on their alterations, thereby upsetting the rating system. This was super delcious, as written. Will become a regular rotation in our home, especially with fresh herbs available from the garden for the next few months :)

Nice and light, perfect for spring and summer. I put in a bit too much spinach and didn't have any Romano and it was still good, and even better, it was easy!

This was awesome!! Followed directions to the T. (EVOO is included in step 3 of "Preparations" when it says "remaining ingredients". Remaining ingredients also include the pecorino cheese, salt and pepper. Just gotta read.) Will make this again, also with other fresh herbs as another reviewer suggested. Really yummy and fresh.

My 15 year old daughter made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! You MUST use fresh herbs to accomplish the flavor of springtime that bursts from this dish. I think we might add some arugula next time. Fresh basil would also work. I made a side of asparagus with balsamic viniagrette -- a perfect meatless meal.

I made this tonight and substituted the spinach with kale and added 1T of the precooked, crumbled bacon because in the recipe it called for 2T of EVOO and for the life of me I could not find where to use the EVOO. I did have to add a little of the liquid out of the pappardelle so that it was not too dry. I used it not as a main dish but with baked chicken breasts as a small portion side dish. With a little tweaking this was really good. I would like to know if the ingredients list contained the fat and calories for the EVOO?