Man, who wouldn’t be salivating just reading those three little words.
Well, my kids did…not.
“Pasta? Again, Papa? Can we have something different…please?”
Kinda tough to hear when you’re a single dad pretending to be a miracle chef…
I’m sorry. Cook, not chef.
And to find something that they both like? Ha!
___________________________
To please my mollycoddled rug rats, I scoured my bible: “Cook’s Illustrated”. In addition to the tried and true recipes of my bud and chef Cathy Thomas, Cook’s Illustrated is my go-to play book. I think the Denver Broncos could have used one last weekend…a playbook, that is.
By sheer fortune, Cook’s Illustrated had what sounded to be a delectable pasta dish… Spaghetti al limone. And it sounded pretty light and (relatively) healthy to boot and it was a huge change from my man-kitchen pasta repertoire. As an example, my from-scratch Alfredo sauce would make Fat Albert REAL happy. It is laden with luscious butter, cream and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The only healthy thing in it is the garlic and a dash of nutmeg. But man, its to die for! Oops.
So I gave Spaghetti al limone a shot…and the kids loved it! Both of them. Ye-haw! Of course, garlic bread was a required accompaniment, making their smiles even bigger.

For those interested, the ingredients are:
- Salt
- 1 pound spaghetti
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1-1/2 cups reserved pasta cooking water
- 2 teaspoons finely grated zest and 1/4 cup juice from 3 lemons
- 1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus more for serving
- Ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves
(Note: For the lemon zest, I like the zester made by Microplane. And be sure to use ONLY the yellow part of the peel and avoid the pith.)
__________________________
So whether or not you have kids to appease, engorge yourself on this pasta dish. It’s a great cure if you’re feeling down. Your palate will love it.
Yes. It was that good.
And a US Marine blogger intimated that my food pictures he saw were “dated”… meaning “Do I still cook”?
Well, he don’t get any.
That’ll teach him. 🙂