Lemon Pasta for Daffodil Day

Lemon Pasta (Pasta Pepe e Cacio)

To help build the momentum across our province of British Columbia, the Cancer Society, together with the Province of British Columbia, has officially declared April as Daffodil Month, and April 9 specifically as Daffodil Day. They are asking British Columbians to join their fight for a life well-lived by wearing a daffodil pin as a symbol that demonstrates our support for cancer survivors, loved ones and friends who are struggling with the disease. Cancer knows no boundaries and the symbol of hope that the daffodil represents joins us all together in the fight against cancer.

I am encouraging every British Columbian to join the fight against cancer and to show those fighting cancer that they are not alone. Daffodil Day is a day to acknowledge that cancer has come into our lives, our families and our communities but we will fight back .We wear the daffodil as a badge of courage. I am sure you have other awareness events in your area as well.

What better way for a "foodie" to show their support than with a delicous dish. I am sending this recipe over to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast the "pasta queen" for her popular event. I try and join in on the fun whenever I have pasta over at Presto Pasta Nights. There are so many pasta shapes and possibilities that I could easily have pasta every day of the year. My cupboards are always full of pasta in many shapes and sizes. It is too hard to resist at our local Italian grocers. I want to have pasta every day of the year!!!!  Presto Pasta Nights event has been the baby of  Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast for over 3 glorious years. Whenever we feel the urge for some pasta we can go over to her site and have 3 years of entries from all over the world to choose from from pasta salad to lasagna to pho. To show my support  this month for cancer, as well as for Ruth, I have brought a  pasta dish that is cheerful and bright with it's lemony yellow flavours.  Ruth has this delicious recipe on her site as well. It's that good!!!As Josee suggested I added locally grown asparagus but couldn't stop there...so made the shrimp as well!

**Pasta Pepe e Cacio (Lemon Pasta)**
excerpted from À la di Stasio by Josée di Stasio. © Transcontinental Books, 2008,

1lb/ 454g spaghetti or other long pasta (Ruth’s note: normally I like to cook with multigrain or whole wheat pasta, but this dish really requires white pasta)
Finely grated zest of 2-3 room temperature lemons
Juice of 2 lemons
1-1/3 cups FRESHLY grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Romano and/or a combination of the two
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Handful of fresh basil, snipped

 Boil the pasta as directed in lots of salted water. Drain and reserve ½ cup cooking water.

 While the pasta is cooking prepare the sauce in a large serving bowl. Add lemon zest and juice with cheese and olive oil. Mix well

Drain the pasta allowing a little water to cling to the noodles. Place over the sauce in the serving bowl, and toss well. Add the basil and pepper, toss and taste, adding some pasta water if necessary…Ruth says, "I rarely find I need it, but always like having some handy just in case"

Some delicious variations from Josee di Stasio…

Lemon and Onion: In a skillet heat equal parts olive oil and butter over medium heat. Sauté 2 chopped onions until translucent NOT brown. Add pasta and lemon sauce, toss and serve.

Lemon Asparagus: In the salted boiling water BEFORE you cook the pasta, cook trimmed asparagus until tender, remove with slotted spoon and rinse under cold running water, chop and reheat with pasta for the last minute of pasta cooking. Add drained pasta and asparagus to lemon sauce, toss and serve.

Lemon Seafood (as Josee says, usually Italians do not mix seafood with Parmesan cheese, but this sounds too good to pass up): While the pasta is cooking, heat oil (olive or lemon olive oil in a hot skillet, sauté shelled shrimps with a pinch or two of hot chili pepper flakes. Spoon over the lemon pasta and serve.

Serves 4

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