Whole-Wheat Linguine with Green Beans, Ricotta, and Lemon

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

1 pound whole-wheat linguine
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound French green beans, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, zested

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirringoccasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the green beans and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Transfer to a serving plate and top with lemon zest. Serve.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

I happened to watch Everyday Italian the other day and Giada happened to be doing a healthy show and as I watched her make this I thought it sounded yummy and easy to make. I need to plug it into my WW eTools to see how many points it will be. I was going to make it for dinner last night but we went out instead so I will try it this next week.