Guest Post: About Dang Time for Lemony Pasta

[The following post is a guest post by hubby.]

I've never really cooked much. During the rare times when I have cooked, I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to cook more. I will cook more. I proclaim right here, right now that I'll definitely make it a habit to prepare meals on a consistent basis.Woo hoo!

Now, it's been way too long since I've properly prepared a meal for the family. So yesterday, I couldn't wait to make a very simple dish that I call Lemony Pasta for dinner. I've made it a number of times in the past, but because my memory isn't the best when it comes to many things, I totally forgot the measurements. My preference when it comes to cooking is to refer to a set of thorough instructions and then to follow it verbatim. Wifey noticed my consternation and simply said, "Just do it. Don't look up anything. You've made it enough times." She knew that the meal was very basic and simple and had enough faith in me to know that I could figure it out. :)

Ingredients

• Brown rice pasta
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lemon zest
• Salt and pepper (optional)

Directions

While boiling the pasta according to the package directions:

• Pour 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl
• Squeeze lemon to create  1/2 cup of juice and add to the olive oil
• Grate 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and mix in with the olive oil and lemon juice
• Chop up fresh basil

After straining the pasta:

• Add the olive oil and grated Parmesan mixture to the pasta and mix in well
• Plate the lemony pasta
• Add chopped basil
• Add lemon zest
• Add salt and pepper (optional)

The Proof

Gathering up the main stuff...

After seeing me add the basil, the toddler picked a leaf from one of our hanging plants and added it. 

Nothing like freshly, grated Parmesan.

 

And now for some lemon zest.

The toddler looking somewhat surprised that Daddy's making something.

"Ready for my close up."

 

I was really surprised at how fast I put together everything. It only took about 25 minutes from the time I turned on the stove to boil up some water to plating everything. I still remember the first time I made this dish. I think it took me over an hour! Haha. I've certainly come a long way with this simple dish from when I first heard about it while watching a Food Network episode 5 years ago - Thanks, Giada!

The dish itself turned out pretty good, at least according to wifey, the teenager, and even the toddler. One thing I'd do differently next time is to use even less extra virgin olive oil, maybe use 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil instead of 1/2 cup, as I think that that would still be plenty of olive oil for the dish.

We wanted a light dinner so the lemony pasta was the main dish. When we've made it in the past, it was more of a side dish. Wifey and I love pasta, lemon, and basil. So this simple dish really satisfies on multiple levels.

Can't wait to prepare another meal soon!

~Grateful Hubby