
This is an easy vegetarian dish that’s flavorful, filling and low calorie—perfect if you’re leaning up for summer. You could serve it as a main dish or a side.
Yes, the ricotta adds about 350 calories across the dish, but entire recipe is 3 to 4 servings, so the calorie count ends up being really minimal per person.
Note that it’s best to use a 12-inch nonstick pan for this recipe.

What you’ll need
- 1T olive or chili oil
- 1 or 2 onions, quartered and thinly sliced
- 6-10 oz. mushrooms, thickly sliced or quartered
- 6-7 small, red, unpeeled potatoes, sliced VERY thin
- 2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes—fire roasted, if possible
- 12 oz. mixed frozen or fresh cut vegetables (broccoli, carrots, pea pods, etc.)
- 10 or so cherry tomatoes
- 0.25t red pepper flakes
- 7 or 8 oz. low-fat ricotta
- 0.25 cups tomato paste
- 4-6 oz. fresh whole spinach leaves (not in the batch photographed for this post)
- A fresh jalapeño pepper or sliced jarred jalapeños, to taste (optional)
What to do
Heat the oil in the frypan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté them. What you’re going to do with the onions is a shortcut caramelization, so keep sauteing them until they start to brown. Add a few tablespoons of hot water—it will bubble up and steam—and keeping sauteing until the water evaporates. Add the sliced potatoes. Repeat this cycle 2 to 4 more times until the onions are soft, browned and “caramelized.” The potatoes will likely not even be softened by this point.
Add the mushrooms and continue sauteing the onions, mushrooms and potatoes for 5 – 10 minutes. Meanwhile open the diced tomatoes and completely drain one can of its liquid. Add both cans to the frypan and bring to a vigorous simmer. Add the frozen or fresh vegetables, cherry tomatoes and red pepper flakes, stirring the mixture well.
Add the ricotta and tomato paste and mix them in to the vegetables well. Let the vigorous simmer resume and continue for 15 more minutes, stirring the veggies every so often. At this point a lot of the liquid from the tomatoes should have evaporated and thickened. Carefully add the spinach leaves. Yes, the pan will be very crowded, but as you carefully fold in the spinach, it will collapse and reduce, as it always does.
Continue cooking at a vigorous simmer until your preferred amount of liquid is left in the pan. For best serving results, it’s best to reduce the liquid to nearly nothing.
Serve hot in a bowl or large plate, topped with the jalapeños.
