I have been pretty much carb free lately, minus the cocktail induced need for pizza and chinese food that overcomes me every weekend, but today I had a hole in my stomach the size of a bowl of pasta. Seriously.... spaghetti squash was not going to kill this craving. So I caved and turned to Gwyneth Paltrow for some help. Gosh, I love her.
Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano with Fresh Basil
Holy delicious. I mean...... I could not dream up a more simple summery pasta. Fresh basil, lemon, and olive oil were pretty much invented to go together and the parmesan cheese gives the dish just a little richness. It is perfect.
Ingredients:
3/4 pound of spaghetti (I used whole grain spelt pasta and it was STILL delicious. Hard to believe, but true)
Kosher salt
1 lemon
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup or so of left over pasta water to thin
Handful of fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
*This is pretty much exactly as is from Gwyneth's recipe, I used less cheese, but that's about it.
Method:
Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
For the love of God, make sure it is al dente.
Using a microplane, zest the lemon into a bowl. Add the juice of the lemon, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix to form a paste. Add 2-4 tablespoons of pasta water to the paste to thin it out and then add the spaghetti and toss to coat.
Sprinkle the chopped basil on top and serve with a grind of black pepper.
