Could it be? Is spring finally here?
I’m afraid to say that too loudly, in case there’s another snowstorm just waiting to blow in from wherever. But I think maybe, possibly, we’ve turned the corner – maybe, possibly, we’re homing in on spring!
And what better way to celebrate the change of the season (if not in calendar, then in weather) than a hearty bowl of lemon-basil pasta? This is one of those dishes we find ourselves turning to quite often in the spring and summer months – but the first tasting of the season is always the most special!
Now, when I added this dinner to the menu plan, I confess I’d expected to have a hearty crop of basil from which to harvest at this point. Ma Nature had other plans, so a harvest from the Safeway had to suffice. No matter – the taste was spot-on regardless!
This dinner couldn’t be easier to make. Boil a pot of penne pasta (or ziti, or rigatoni, or whatever you like – we always tend to gravitate toward penne in this meal for some reason). While it’s heating up, in a large serving bowl mix one-quarter cup of olive oil with two tablespoons of white wine vinegar, then add salt and pepper to taste (but add more pepper than you think you’ll need). Then add the juice of two to three lemons (we always like a little extra lemon juice in ours, so we go with three), and then add a container’s worth of halved cherry or grape tomatoes. Tonight, we actually used a container and a half, because we had half a container left over from another meal and what’s the use in that?
Finally, I pulled out the aforementioned package of basil from the refrigerator and washed it, then chopped the whole handful up, down to the stems. I added the chopped leaves to the serving bowl, mixed everything together, and waited for the penne to be ready.
Once it was al dente (actually, we like ours a little softer than al dente – I know, I know, such commoners we are), LeeLee helped me drain the big pot full of water and then I poured the penne into the serving bowl, stirring throughout to mix everything together. Once we’d spooned hearty helpings onto our plates, we sprinkled some Daiya mozzarella on top of the penne, added a little extra pepper (for old time’s sake), and voila! Dinner in a matter of minutes.
And in true Recessionista fashion, we’ve got plenty of leftovers to last us for several lunches. But the pasta will have to wait its turn – we’ve still got the remainder of our Easter feast to get through first!
:)