Lemon Angel Hair Pasta – My Godsons Love It!
Last night I cooked dinner for my Godsons and their parents while visiting them in Denver. I wanted to cook something really good, but I had a specific request….it had to be vegetarian.
Both of my Godsons have made the decision to be vegetarian because of their animal rights concerns and food production process concerns. Yes, they are 14 and 11 years old, and made this decision on their own. Although their parents do enjoy meat and fish, they honor their sons’ decision, which is really cool.
So I made this dish and they went absolutely wild over it. George had three helpings, and John had four. I served this with a salad of butter lettuce with macadamia nuts drizzled with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. John, the younger one, who doesn’t really like salads, loved it. It was a great meal and they marveled at my culinary skills. They asked when I was moving in with them!
Here is the recipe:
Lemon Angel Hair Pasta
Ingredients
1 pound Angel Hair Pasta
About 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, coat the pan
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped, more if you really like garlic
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 lemons, zested and juiced
¼ cup of Capers, more if you love capers
½ to ¾ cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ cup (10 or 12 leaves) fresh basil, very thinly sliced
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop the pasta into the pot. (Don’t put oil in the water because it makes the pasta slick and the sauce won’t adhere to it.)
Heat a large deep skillet over low heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.
When the pasta has been cooking about 5 minutes, add lemon juice, a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the cream to the garlic and oil. Raise heat a bit to bring sauce to a bubble.
Drain pasta when it still has a good bite to it, al dente. Add the capers, lemon zest, basil, and half of the cheese to the cream sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste. Add pasta to pan and turn off heat. Toss the pasta with sauce a minute or 2, allowing it time to soak up the sauce.
Top the plates of pasta or platter with remaining cheese, and parsley.
