Angel Hair with Ricotta & Pine Nuts

Ingredients

• 2 large lemons
• ½ cup ricotta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• ⅔ Cup heavy cream
• ½ pound dry angel hair pasta
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Use a peeler to peel thick strips of the zest from half of one of the lemons, then add the peels to the water as it comes to a boil.
2. Use a fine grater, like a microplane, to zest the remaining half of that lemon and stir it into the ricotta along with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a little salt to taste. Zest the other lemon and reserve. Juice both lemons (you should have about 6 tablespoons of juice).
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon each of the olive oil and the butter over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, 3 minutes.
4. Add the cream, reserved lemon zest, remaining tablespoon butter, and 1½ teaspoons salt to the skillet. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook until the cream is bubbling, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until a little more thickened, 1 to 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and cover with foil to keep warm.
5. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until just undercooked, about 2/ minutes.(Angel hair is so thin, it will definitely finish cooking, don’t worry!) Drain the pasta, add it to the warm cream, then add 5 tablespoons of the lemon juice and toss through the pasta. Season to taste with more lemon juice and salt.
6. Divide the pasta among bowls, dollop with the lemon-flavored ricotta, drizzle with the remaining tablespoon olive oil, and top with pine nuts and parsley. Sprinkle with pepper just before serving.