Lemon Basil Pappardelle

It’s the 100th post! Woo! I would’ve liked to have gotten here sooner, but my laptop has died. Very sad. So there’s a reason for my even more sporadic than usual posting. I’ll try to compensate with Aaron’s computer/laptop and when my beautiful hot pink baby is fixed, I’ll post more. Promise!



So what better way to celebrate my 100th post than to use something I grew! I harvested my basil for the very first time the other day and I had to do something nice with it. We picked up some great pappardelle noodles from Trader Joe’s a while back and just waited for something to inspire me. I mean, look at this beautiful basil! How can that not make you want to cook something?

So this is what I did:

One package of pappardelle noodles
A bunch of basil
A few garlic cloves (4-ish), minced
Lemon zest and juice of one lemon, ½ reserved
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
A bit of sugar
Freshly cracked pepper
A pinch of sea salt

Boil noodles in slightly salted water.

In the meantime, cut up about half of the basil into strips. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil, basil, garlic cloves, lemon zest and juice from ½ the lemon. Heat for about 30 seconds. Add a bit of vinegar and sugar. Heat for a little longer, but not until the basil changes color (this is what I did and it bummed me out. I cut the time for these instructions). Put aside.



Drain noodles and throw back in the pot. Mix in the sauce. Chop the rest of basil and toss in with the noodles along with the remaining lemon juice. Serve in pasta bowls and top with freshly cracked pepper and a bit of sea salt.

So aside from overcooking the first bit of basil, this was so tasty! And my basil plant is so full again, so more tasties to come.