Pasta a la Limone

This weekend I got to do one of my very favorite things in the world.  See my grandkids.  My stepson David graduated from his fellowship program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  He's a pediatric anesthesiologist.  Talk about a smart guy.  Now, David is also very motivated.  Oh, and he's a really nice guy too.  Fantastic dad.  Wonderful husband  I'm very lucky to be related to him!  And, to his wife Kara and their kids, Bradley and Rosie.  Now, the way cool thing is that Kara's whole family is great too.  Her mom, Debbie, was visiting to babysit the kids while we went to the dinner party.  After the dinner, all the adults sat in David and Kara's living room and had a wonderful time chatting and catching up.  Here's the crew:

On our way out of Cinti, Connie and I stopped at Jungle Jim's.  My ankle wasn't terribly appreciative but my pantry was VERY happy.  Talk about some fun finds.  Smoked sea salt.  Three kinds of chutneys.  Five kinds of vinegars.  A huge bag of green onions marked down to 81 CENTS!  As usual on a long car trip, I spent part of the time clipping recipes.  And, reading cooking info to Connie.  Two lunch salads: antipasti pasta; green bean, tomato and chickpea made the make now stack.  Ditto buttered noodles with toasted sage and pasta limone.  Then, there's the kebab recipe that'll use up some of those scallions and the snap peas we got in the CSA box.  It's pork with a ginger hoisin glaze.  An apricot compote over honeyed yogurt.  And a summer fruit salad served over arugula.  It's going to be a fun week of new recipes. 

I'd planned on a Rachael Ray fish recipe for Sunday evening.  Connie loved the sound of the pasta limone.  So, it became the side dish.  What did we think?  It was fabulous!  The pasta didn't really look like it had any sauce on it at all.  Then, we'd get a mouthful of wonderful lemon.  And, a bit of basil. Then, the olive oil would show up.  And, finally just a touch of cream.  This is one I'll make again and again.

Pasta a la Limone

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti, we used Barilla Plus
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1/4 c heavy cream
2 t lemon zest
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 oz finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 oz finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, for serving
ground black pepper, for serving
2 T shredded fresh basil leaves, for serving

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, bring four quarts of water to a rolling boil.  Cook pasta in the water.  When the pasta is al dente, drain it into a colander set inside a bowl.  Remove the colander from the bowl and reserve the pasta water.

While the pasta is cooking, saute the shallot and 1/2 t of salt in 1 T olive oil.  Saute until the shallot is softened.  Once the pasta has been removed from the Dutch oven, pour in the shallot and oil.  Whisk in 1 1/2  c of the pasta water and the cream.  Cook for two minutes at a simmer.  Add the pasta back to the pot and pour in the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and zest and one ounce of the grated Romano. 

Allow the pasta to sit, covered, for two minutes.  If the sauce is too thick, you can add more pasta water.  We found it was perfect.

Serve garnished with shredded basil, grated Romano and freshly ground black pepper.

adapted from Cooks Illustrated