Lemon Spaghetti

On Friday before I left work, I perused some of my favorite food blogs to find a yummy pasta dish for my pre-run dinner.  I found a recipe for lemon pasta on the smitten kitchen blog and I was set!  It seemed like a refreshing, light, new twist on a pasta dinner.  And it was!  It was so good I could barely wait long enough to take some pictures of this tasty dish!  A side of steamed asparagus rounded off the entire meal. 

But I write with a word of caution for anyone who has recently developed acid reflux but refuses to take appropriate medication!  I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my chest and my throat were ON FIRE!  I was awake for hours waiting for this uncomfortable pain to pass.  Needless to say, a 16 mile run on three hours of sleep was not in the cards on Saturday!  So I had to wait until Sunday, with it's warmer, stickier morning weather.  Lesson learned: lemon pasta + acid reflux - zantac = ouch.  Instead of a run on Saturday, I went straight to the pharmacy for meds so I can enjoy my delightful lemon pasta leftovers.  In short, this pasta dish is worth any associated pain!  This recipe will make 3-4 servings. 

Ingredients
1/2 pound dried spaghetti or linguine pasta
2 lemons
2 tbls heavy cream
2 tbls olive oil
bunch of basil, chopped
handful spinach, washed
big handful of grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Directions
Bring a big pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally and add in your pasta.  Once it's cooked to al dente, reserve about a cup of the pasta water and drain.  Rinse and dry the pot (if you want to do the next step in this pot and save your dish washing).

Meanwhile, zest the two lemons and reserve the juice from about 1 1/2 of the lemons.

In the dried pasta pot, bring the olive oil, cream, lemon juice, and about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes over medium-high heat.  Remove from heat and add in your cooked pasta.  Toss to coat with the sauce, and add a bit more of the pasta water to thin the sauce if you'd like.  Add in the basil, spinach, and cheese and toss again.  (The spinach will still have a bit of a bite to it.  If you want it to be more wilted, add it in to the boiling oil/cream/water mixture.)  Salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy.  (And don't forget the antacids if you require them!)