Tasty Spinach Pasta with Walnut Sauce

It has been raining pretty much every day since last Friday.  I've only road my bike to work once this week. ONCE.  Tomorrow's not looking to good either.  It's also been cooler than normal.  I can't really complain much about that, it's much better than the humid, hot, rain-just-makes-it -worse weather that is much more common in the summer here.  Still, temperatures below 80 degrees in the middle of summer is suddenly cold and warrants comfort like foods like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Add to the list Spinach Pasta with Creamy Walnut Sauce. 

From Fresh Flavor Fast, this recipe is quick, not too heavy as it might sound, and really good as a leftover for lunch the next day.  I couldn't find spinach linguine, but I spaghetti is a close enough choice. Other than that switch, I followed the recipe in amounts and all.  If you are like me and do not have a food processor, just a blender, I would dice up the garlic clove instead of throwing it in whole.  I also crushed the walnut halves to make it easier on the blender.  As an FYI, the cream mixture got pretty thick.  Maybe it's suppose to do this.  I probably was distracted and let it blend too long, but it was fine and mixed in with the pasta easily.   

Ingredients 

 I lost my pictures, so this is from Martha Stewart

• 2 cups walnut halves 
• 1 pound spinach spaghetti
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

1. Cook the pasta according the package in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. When finished, drain and return to the pot. 
2. Meanwhile, In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, toast the walnuts in small batches. Shake the pan occasionally until fragrant and starting to darken, 2 to 3 minutes.  
3. In the blender, combine half of walnuts, the cream, and garlic and blend until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
4.  Toss with pasta, remaining walnuts, Parmesan, and parsley. Serve with more Parmesan.

Enjoy! 

The Best of the Best: Lemon Recipes

Best Savory, Best Over All, Best Sweet

I apologize for keeping these recipes to myself for so long, but I have finally combined the top recipes from the Lemon Off.  They were all delicious so I highly recommend you try them all sometime. Here they are.
The winners better not get too used to having those awesome trophies because there are plenty of people already picking out recipes for the upcoming Rhubarb Off!

Lemon-Off Trial #2: Lemon Spagetti with Asparagus

I recently added Eat Live Run to my Google Reader and I think it's safe to say I save almost every other recipe that Jenna posts. (She's also pretty funny, so I highly recommend checking it out.)  A week ago her recipe for Meyer Lemon Spaghetti with Asparagus was sitting in my reader. This is the recipe that made me realize I had to make Lemon the next neighborhood bake/cook-off.  On Saturday I decided I would be testing it out this week to see if it was the one for the competition.  Or really because I am just all about lemon right now.
I really like this recipe. Like, Jenna, I am not a huge fan of asparagus.  My grandma used to have a patch of it growing on the path to her house and she would pick it and try to get us to eat it raw. I think it was the smell that really got to me. Anyway, it is great in this recipe.  The thing that I will probably delete next time is the sun-dried tomatoes. I am not a tomato fan at all.  Actually I would probably include them for flavor again, but not actually eat them, its more the texture that gets me.  The combo of the lemon and red pepper flavors are so excellent together.  For the cook-off I think I need something even more lemony, but this recipe will be frequenting my kitchen from here on out.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz linguine pasta
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (I added a bit more than the original)
• juice of two large meyer lemons to equal about 1/2 cup 
• bunch asparagus, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until done. When pasta is done, remove noodles with a slotted spoon, reserving boiling water. 
2. Blanch asparagus in water for thirty seconds, until bright green. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
3. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute for thirty seconds. Remove from the heat. Add the pasta, sundried tomatoes and asparagus to the pan and toss everything together. Pour in the lemon juice along with additional cooking water if the dish seems too dry. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!