Rice, pasta and breads
Creamy Shells with Peas and Bacon

Recipe submitted by DaVita renal dietitian Lisa from New York.
Portions: 4
Serving size: 1-1/4 cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 slices bacon, uncooked and cut into 1/4” strips
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 cups small shell pasta, uncooked
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Preparation
- Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in large pot for cooking pasta.
- Place ricotta, Parmesan cheese, butter and pepper in a bowl large enough to hold cooked pasta.
- Fry oil and bacon in medium, nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Add onion to the same skillet and cook until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to the bowl with ricotta mixture.
- Meanwhile boil pasta. When pasta is about 1 minute shy of al dente (still slightly hard), add peas and continue to cook for 1 minute. Reserving 1-cup cooking water, drain pasta and peas. Add 1/2-cup cooking water and lemon juice to ricotta mixture and whisk until smooth. Add pasta and peas to bowl and toss to coat, adding more reserved cooking water as necessary to moisten pasta. Stir in crisp bacon and add additional pepper to taste.
Nutrients per serving
- Calories: 489
- Protein: 22 g
- Carbohydrates: 53 g
- Fat: 21 g
- Cholesterol: 49 mg
- Sodium: 375 mg
- Potassium: 322 mg
- Phosphorus: 335 mg
- Calcium: 319 mg
- Fiber: 4.2 g
Renal and Renal Diabetic Food Choices
- 2 meat
- 3 starch
- 1 vegetable, low potassium
- 2 fat
Carbohydrate Choices
- 3-1/2
Helpful Hints
- This recipe is a one dish meal if 1-1/4 cup portions are served. If desired, reduce portions to 1/2 cup and serve as a side dish when you have a crowd for dinner (196 calories, 9 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat, 19 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 112 mg potassium, 133 mg phosphorus, 129 mg calcium, 1.9 g fiber).


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