Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Citrus Summer Meal

Well folks, the unthinkable happened. 

First of all, I've been watching Food Network non-stop (per your suggestions) and find myself thinking about cooking all the time. WHO AM I?

Second of all, I was actually motivated to make myself a good dinner. Usually, I'll make myself a sandwich or a salad, but last night I felt like taking on a challenge.

I decided to make fettucine with a lemon cream sauce, a recipe I spotted in an old issue of the now-defunct Domino Magazine. I zested two lemons and chopped fresh rosemary. 

For my side dish, I made Giada De Laurentis' Spinach salad in a parmesan cup, minus the almonds. 

For the lemon cream pasta sauce, I simmered 2 cups of heavy cream until it was reduced by a third and then added my lemon zest and rosemary. I will note, the rosemary was almost overpowering; next time I will use a little less.

Then I mixed the citrus vinaigrette from Giada's recipe. It was SO good. Like, good enough I'm going to make enough to bottle it next time. AND with the exception of lemons, I had all the ingredients already: olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice, honey, pepper and salt. 

I tossed the fettucine with the cream (which was a little too drippy for my taste, but that's because I made a small portion of fettucine and didn't adjust for that fact) and doused it with parmesan cheese.

Meanwhile, I used the paltry amount of parmesan I had left to make a little cup for my salad. I placed a mound of parmesan on a cookie sheet and baked it until it was golden, then quickly took it out, popped it on top of a muffin pan and used the bottom of a plastic cup to push it down into the muffin shape. 

It was SO good and SO easy and I plan to make this salad any time I have company, so you can expect it if you ever come to visit. 

This was a perfect summer dish — very light, zesty, flavorful but not overpowering. Pasta can feel so heavy in the summer, but this was fresh. Definitely my favorite meal I've made so far.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

I love lightly dressed pasta. This one looks particularly good.

Molly said...

yum! this looks like a perfect summer dinner! thanks for sharing!