Spaghetti with Lemon Sauce

For this week’s three day blogging marathon # 46, my theme is lemons. I will be posting 3 days of lemon recipes. For the first day I have very easy, quick and yummy pasta. Spaghetti is cooked until al dente, tossed in lemon sauce and served hot with or without any vegetables.

The first time I made this pasta, I served it with sautéed shrimp and we loved it. The second time I made it for lunch and as I was the only one eating, and since I did not have any other side dish to serve the spaghetti with, I added some roasted mushrooms and zucchini. I liked both these vegetables in this spaghetti. For vegetarians, mushrooms and spaghetti is a good option and if one wants seafood check the suggestion below the recipe.

Source: Cooking Channel
Total Time: 26 – 35 minutes
Preparation Time: 15 – 20 minutes (includes time to boil water for spaghetti)
Cooking Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. (approx.) Spaghetti
• 6 – 8 cups Water
• 1 tbsp. Salt (to be added to boiling water)
• Rind of ½ Lemon
• 1 Lemon, juiced or 3 tbsp. Lemon Juice
• ½ – ¾ tsp. crushed/minced Garlic (adjust to your liking. I like garlic and used ¾ tsp.)
• 2 ½ tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/3 – ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• 1/8 tsp. Black Pepper Powder
• ¼ – ½ cup Flat Parsley

Vegetables:

• 8 – 10 Mushrooms, diced
• 2 small Zucchini, diced
• 2 tsp. Olive Oil or any Oil
• 1/8 tsp. Black Pepper Powder
• ¼ – ½ tsp. Salt

Preparation:

• Cooking Spaghetti – Cook spaghetti to al dente following the instructions on the spaghetti box. I cooked spaghetti in 6-8 cups of salted (1 tbsp. salt) boiling water for about 11 minutes. Drain the spaghetti and keep ready.
• Vegetables – While the spaghetti is cooking, roast diced mushrooms and zucchini in a 10” pan in some oil. Add salt and pepper to the vegetables when sautéing. This will take about 5 – 7 minutes on high flame. If the vegetables burn, reduce the flame. Once roasted, keep aside the vegetables.
• Lemon Sauce – In a bowl take freshly squeezed lemon juice, garlic and whisk by slowly adding extra virgin olive oil to the lemon mixture. Add salt, pepper and cheese and whisk/mix.
• Serving – Prepare the vegetables and lemon sauce before spaghetti is cooked. Once spaghetti is al dente, drain the spaghetti and add it to the lemon sauce. Give it a good stir. Add the vegetables, parsley and more cheese if one wants. Give it a good stir and serve immediately.

Suggestions:

• This spaghetti can be served without any topping or with vegetables or with some shrimp. The first time I made it, I served with some shrimp. I marinated 1 pound shrimp with 1/8 tsp. black pepper powder, ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes, ¼ – ½ tsp. salt and 1 tbsp. oil for 30 – 60 minutes. Sauté the shrimp in some oil until the shrimp curls up and change color, and is fully cooked, about 5 – 8 minutes.

This day in:
2010 – Baked Nippattu
2011 – Soya Chunks & Bottle Gourd in Tomato Gravy
2013 – Aloo Bhujia