Lemon-a-licious Spaghetti

In my quest to tighten the belt a bit and eat well on a budget, I have started planning my weekly meals in advance so I can simply buy what I need at the store. One of those meals this week was this lemon pasta dish. 

I have been obsessed with citrus ever since my trip to California and seeing my uncle's garden. Lemon just sings SUMMER to me! Brandon and I are actually planning to make our upstairs "half room" into a lemon and fig growing room during the winter. We'll just have to see how that one goes...

Anyway, LEMONS! This dish is very very lemony, so if you are not one for the yellow, tangy, citrusy goodness then scale back some of the zest you use, or some of the lemon juice. If you start with less juice and then add to taste you'll be able to take the lemon down a notch or two. The original recipe called for the use of about a cup of pasta water to the lemon sauce, but I didn't need to use any (probably why mine was SO lemony and delicious). I think adding the pasta water would have watered it down too much, to be honest. The sauce is pretty thin. 

BUT SO GOOD!! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. A perfect summery dinner. 

Lemon-a-licious Spaghetti
adapted from smitten kitchen
serves 2

ingredients

• ½ lb spaghetti (I used two servings of fresh made pasta from the farmer’s market)
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 lemons
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup almond milk
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• ground pepper
• small handful fresh picked basil leaves

directions

1. Cook the pasta al dente in salted water.
2. While the pasta cooks, zest the lemons until you have just about 1 tablespoon of zest then juice both lemons.
3. Drain the pasta, then dry out your pot to cook the sauce. Boil the oil, almond milk, and zest over high heat for a minute or so.
4. Return pasta to the pot and stir until well coated. Add the cheese and lemon juice and toss everything together.
5. Stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper
6. Serve immediately, topping with an extra drizzle of olive oil and some more parmesan.

What is your favorite summer dinner? Do you usually pair your dinners with red or white wine?