Baked Lemon Pasta

I made this Baked Lemon Pasta on a weeknight for a friend and I. It turned out to be the best summer dish for us to share on the patio along with a crisp and cold glass of Chardonnay.



Here is what you need for this easy and simple recipe:

1 pound thin spaghetti
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups sour cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
Plenty of grated Parmesan cheese
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra lemon juice

Start by setting a large pot of water to boil, toss in some salt, then throw in the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Preheat the oven to 375.

In a skillet, melt 1/2 stick of butter with 2 T olive oil over low heat.

When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary.

Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don’t bake too long or the pasta will dry out.)

When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Shower generously with Parmesan cheese. You can see I am NOT afraid of cheese!

Then chop fresh parsley and sprinkle on top. Dive in and enjoy! Thanks P-Dub for another easy weeknight recipe. My friend and I really enjoyed this dish, but Jim thought it "needed more chicken." Okay, I get the hint. Maybe next time I will add some diced or shredded chicken. I also want to note that this did not reheat well. I may half the recipe in the future if I was just cooking for Jim and I...and add chicken of course.