Tasty Tuesdays: Lemon, Parsley, and Parmesan Pasta

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

This may be the easiest pasta recipe I have ever made.  And, chances are, you already have most of the ingredients needed to make it.  Basically, the recipe makes a pesto using flat leaf parsley instead of basil.

{ recipe from the January 2012 issue of Martha Sterwart Living. See it  here }

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed

- 2 garlic cloves

- 1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, plus more for garnish

- 1 teaspoon coarse salt

- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

- 1 pound fusilli or other short, twisted pasta, such as gemelli

- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Make the pesto: In a food processor {or blender}, pulse parsley, garlic, red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon salt until coarsely chopped. With machine running, add oil in a slow, steady stream, processing until blended.

2.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.

3.  Toss pasta with pesto and Parmesan, then with reserved pasta water. Grate more lemon zest over each serving, and season with pepper.  Garnish with lemon slice and parsley leaves, if desired.



What did you cook this week?

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