There are times when you are about to make dinner when you open the fridge or pantry and empty shelves stare back at you.  What do you make?  If you have some pasta on hand, parmesan cheese and lemons dinner is only a few minutes away.  Perfect when you have hungry hoards moaning that they need to be fed.

Lemon spaghetti is the antidote to those nights when you really don’t feel like cooking but don’t want to resort to take away.  In a matter of minutes you can have a delicious meal on your plate with the absolute minimum of effort.

While our shelves aren’t exactly empty, we are trying to use up the contents of our fridge and some of the things in the pantry before we move house at the end of the week.  So lemon spaghetti was what we had for dinner recently.  I have to say the lemon spaghetti was absolutely delicious, and was a hit with my boyfriend who requested lemon spaghetti for dinner again the next night.

I’m so excited about the move, not only because the new house is beautiful, but also because the new house has a much larger kitchen, which is the thing I am most looking forward to.  Admittedly it wouldn’t be difficult to find a kitchen larger than the one we have at the moment given you can’t open the oven and the dishwasher at the same time, or the fridge and the pantry, or fit more than one person in the kitchen at a time.  I already have a list of recipes I plan to christen the new kitchen with.

Do you have a small kitchen or are you lucky enough to have a large kitchen? If you could change one thing about your kitchen what would it be?

Cookbook Challenge 2011
Week 2
Theme: Citrus
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Lemon Spaghetti Recipe

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Recipe adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes

Author: Delicieux

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• ½ cup of olive oil
• ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste
• ½ teaspoon of pepper, plus more to taste
• 400g of dried spaghetti
• ¼ cup of chopped parsley
• 1 cup of baby spinach leaves
• 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest

Instructions

1. In a jug combine the olive oil, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Set aside.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and season well with salt. Add the spaghetti and cook until tender.
3. Drain the spaghetti, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
4. Return the spaghetti to the pan and add the lemon sauce, lemon zest, parsley and spinach. Gradually add the reserved cooking liquid,1/4 of a cup at a time, to moisten.
5. Season the pasta with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

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