What's Cooking Wednesday

Post-Christmas I'm jonesing for lighter fare: lots of veggies, simple flavours, less meat, no sugar. Tonight I really wanted spaghetti but not with our typical (although declicious and homemade) red sauce. So I pulled out a recipe I made once before and loved. The recipe is Spaghetti al Limone (spaghetti in lemon sauce) from David Rocco's terrific cookbook David Rocco's Dolce Vita (based on his show that I triple love when I actually can see it ie. I'm in front of a t.v. with cable). The recipe is uber-simple but so delicious. I highly recommend you try it when you want simple but not rich but full of flavour.

Spaghetti al Limone

500 g spaghetti
1 clove garlic, for rubbing
2 lemons
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (the higher quality the better)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
fresh flat-leaf parsley if you have it
zest of 1 lemon

Put water on to boil for pasta and add pasta to salted water. Meanwhile, cut garlice clove in half and rub large ceramic or wooden bowl with the garlic. Toss the rest or use it for another recipe (this ensures that you get garlic flavour without the bite of a mouthful of raw garlic).

Squeeze lemon juice from both lemons into your bowl. Use fork to pull out the seeds. Drizzle olive oil in a little at a time while whisking it until it emulsifies. Add Parmesan, salt and pepper. Add parsley and lemon zest. Mix.

Drain pasta and add to bowl immediately. Give it a good mix. The sauce will thicken up from the starchiness of the pasta. Taste and add more Parmesan if you like.

Eat. Bet you won't stop! This recipe is best if you use the best Parmesan, lemons and olive oil you can lay your hands on. Please don't reach for a green can!

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