Who knew lemon, cheese and pasta went so well together?

We did make a new recipe for dinner last night, but after getting the recipes and post together for the Wednesday Treat Day stuff, I was too tired to talk about it! So we'll be a day behind on dinners until I can get myself caught up in posts!

I loved how easy and fast last night's dinner was as it was a pretty hectic day - you'll find out more in the next few days on what's going on. Besides being quick to throw together, this dish of Shells with Ricotta, Basil and Lemon had such a clean fresh taste to it. As the shells cook, ricotta is taken to a new level being tossed with tangy lemon juice, lemon zest and a chiffonade of fresh basil leaves. The hot pasta is added and the heat softens the ricotta just enough to make it very easy to toss together. Instead of topping this with some sort of grated cheese, olive oil and fresh whole wheat breadcrumbs (I like the crusts on whole wheat bread, so I left them on when I zipped the slices through the food processor) are heated in a large skillet to get toasty. This creates nutty and crunchy nuggets that make a striking contrast to the creamy ricotta that sneaks into the shells. Jeff was a little unsure about the whole lemon/ricotta/pasta combination, but quickly changed his mind once he snuck a taste while I was not looking - I heard the "MMmmm..." sound and knew this was going to be a hit.

Since I was able to easily dinner together so quick, I also made the Asiago-Black Pepper Drop Biscuits that what have posted a few times before - these biscuits are made quite often around here as we love the sharp bite to them.

Recipes
Shells with Ricotta, Basil and Lemon