Michael was going to be working late tonight and the weather forecast was calling for a toasty day. What does this add up to? What to have for dinner, of course. Something simple, something yummy. I love citrus and as I come close to the end of the week (and running low on fresh produce) I need to use what's on hand and in the pantry - Lemon Linguini here I come!
(Serves 2)
In a large bowl whisk together the following ingredients as your dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon (finely zested - use a rasp for this)
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or Pecorino works nicely here too)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Prepare 1/2 pound dried linguini (or spaghetti). The trick to great pasta is to cook it in lots of BOILING water and to have the water sufficiently salted. Depending on how stingy I'm being with my expensive salt, I'll use anything from cheap kosher salt to Maldon sea salt to do this. The next important step (and my husband gives me a bad time for doing this) is taste the water before adding the pasta. It should taste like sea water. If it doesn't you haven't put in enough salt so add more, then taste again. When it's right then add the pasta. This is the only opportunity you have to correctly season the pasta. Adding salt later will only make it taste salty. (Okay, enough said on the subject). Cook pasta until tender, but still firm to the bite (8-10 minutes). Drain the pasta, but reserve 1 cup of the water. Add the pasta to the lemon sauce and toss. Add enough reserved water to moisten. This won't make your sauce watery, it will make the sauce creamy and take the astingent edge off the lemon juice. It's a beautiful thing. Buon Appetito!
Hi Sandra -- thought I should leave a comment because otherwise you may think your blog isn't being read by our family -- well, we're reading it alright....and what an inspiration it is too. I hope this isn't just a summer project and that you'll keep it up indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteI am going to try your salmon recipe for my mother-in-law's birthday party at the end of the month. Will Baleine sea salt(from France) do? Where do you purchase the Malabar pepper?
Julia is following your smoothie recipe and slowly but surely we'll be trying the rest as well. My husband follows a largely vegetarian diet so he is thrilled with the tofu and veggie offerings.....
Sorry to hear about your toe....hope it heals quickly.
Don't stop your blog!!
Best regards
Heather from running group