that girl allison

I pulled a recipe out of Cosmopolitan two years ago entitled “The Perfect Summer Pasta,” and I finally got around to making it last week.  I’ve been a huge fan of asparagus lately, and I always love lemon so this sounded perfect.  For some reason the recipe sounded a lot more complicated than it actually turned out to be, and it was delicious.  It is the perfect summer pasta and I definitely recommend trying it out this season.

Ingredients: 

1. 2 lemons, quartered
2. 12 oz. grape or cherry tomatoes
3. 1 lbs asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1.5-to-2 inch lengths.
4. 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
5. salt and pepper
6. 1 lb corkscrew pasta
7. 1 4-oz wedge of Parmesan cheese
8. 1 c. torn fresh mint leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*
2. Boil water and cook pasta according to package
3. Place lemons, whole tomatoes, and asparagus in a large roasting pan.  
4. Drizzle it with 2 tbs olive oil
5. Sprinkle with salt and pasta, and toss by hand
6. Cook until tomatoes are softened and asparagus is well cooked, about 15 minutes.
7. Add pasta and 2 tbs of pasta water to the roasting pan, and add parmesan, mint, and last tbs of olive oil.  Season generously with salt and pepper, toss everything together.  
8. Squeeze remaining lemon juice from the lemons on top.  Serve hot.

The first dish I tried making was from a recipe I found a few weeks ago in the New York Times.  I left out the onions, and it’s basically a simple baked pasta, but it was good!  As evident by the above photo, it was difficult to snap a picture that didn’t make the food look gross.  

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup diced onions
• 1 table spoon sliced garlic
• 1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 cup Sardinian sheep’s milk ricotta
• 1 cup torn basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan  cheese
• 1 box penne
• 2 tablespoons butter

Recipe:

1. Boil a pot of salted water.
2. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan heat over medium heat, add onions and saute until translucent; add garlic, and saute for another minute.  Bring tomatoes and red minute.  Bring tomatoes and red pepper to a simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Cook pasta in water for five minutes, then drain.
4. Place pasta in the man with sauce.  Stair until coated well.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup of parmesan over pasta.  Turn heat off and add butter, basil, and ricotta.  Stir and pour in a 12”x9” baking dish.  Put remaining parmesan on top and bake in a 425* oven for 20-30 minutes until the top is crown and crispy. 

Last Friday night after one of the last performances of The Science of Guilt, I came home and made shrimp scampi for the first time in a while.  It came out well, and though I think that there’s always a need for more lemon juice, it tasted good and I left well-enough alone.  It’s a super simple, and quick, dish that I had for the first time last January while visiting some family up in Maine.  So while this technically wasn’t a “new” dish, it was one I hadn’t made in a while, so I thought it could still kind of count.  

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt plus 1 1/2 teaspoons
• 3/4 pound linguine
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
• 1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 lemon, zest grated
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
• 1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.
2. Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.
3. When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

(Original recipe source.)