8 April 2010

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

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author/owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.
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31 comments:

  1. Anything with lemon floats my boat - add romano and basil and I'm all over it!

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  2. This is a great recipe... I love that one usually would have the ingredients to make it whenever you are in the mood... great photo too!

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  3. I've always wanted to make lemon pasta and the combo of other ingredients makes it sound even more appealing.

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  4. A wonderful dish that is so fresh and spring-like!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. Great post, Val. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night. I love all of Josee's dishes - what a great book! And this dish in particular is fantastic. You can dress it up differently for every season.

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  6. i don't like lemon in my desserts, but it's always a welcome addition to pasta--this looks wonderful! and daffodil day? how lovely!

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  7. Great post. We should all do our part for Daffodil Day, regardless of where one lives.

    Thanks for sharing Josee's pasta with Presto Pasta Night. It is awesome. Great in Spring with Asparagus or baby peas. And completely different but fantastic during the rest of the summer & fall harvest.

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  8. lovely new layout and delicious pasta dish - it looks like spring has sprung

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  9. A lovely spring pasta!

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  10. I can't wait for asparagus season now, Val. This looks wonderful!

    -Elizabeth

    P.S. When I saw "lemon pasta" I thought you were making lemon flavoured pasta. (I've had it once with seafood - it's delicious - but I've not had the nerve to try making it.)

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  11. Nice new layout! And lovely pasta. Cancer awareness initiatives remind us about the fight still ongoing, at the personal level and at the research level, to treat the disease. I have always liked the choice of daffodils as a symbol of courage and of hope.

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  12. NIce simple recipe. Sometimes the plainest pasta dish is the one that really hits the spot.

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  13. I have something spookily similar right in front of me

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  14. This dish represents such a great cause. And it's delicious to boot! I love it.

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  15. I love those fresh spring pastas. There are lots of Daffidils blooming and soon the tulips ;)

    http://polwig.com

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  16. Lovely spring flavours Val...gorgeous in fact! And def for a great cause. PS I love the new layout!

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  17. I love pasta with lemon. It just tastes fresh and delicious!

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  18. Such a lovely way to celebrate Spring and a great cause. Lemon and asparagus are so wonderful together!

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  19. Io adoro la pasta , complimenti per la ricetta molto invitante !

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  20. This is a great recipe. I love it. wonderful!

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  21. I really respect how you have mixed in the fight against cancer with this wonderful recipe. Shrimps and noodles always work well with me anytime. Keep up the great work with your articles and please stop by my health blog sometime. The web address is http://healthy-nutrition-facts.blogspot.com/.

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  22. Anything with lemon in is fabulous, this is a wonderful recipe!
    I like the spring feel to the blog!

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  23. Look at that pasta dish! Are you sure you didn't get that in a restaurant? ;)

    Looks wonderful!

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  24. What a lovely idea, Val - a great pasta dish to rally people to an important cause.

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  25. I love the plate where you served the pasta!

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  26. Awesome dish! OUr family loves pasta! I would love to try the one with olives and feta (love anything with that) and use our favorite pasta made with Kamut Khorasan Wheat! It is the best - thanks!!

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  27. Val,
    What a wonderful dish....shrimp and lemon with pasta is the best combination. I love what your country is doing to focus on cancer with the yellow daffodil. I also have many different shapes and sizes of pasta in my pantry. You just can't have too much pasta in my book.

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  28. I've been on a fresh lemon kick lately, too. I don't know what took me so long! This looks wonderful (green garlic would have been good)
    And I love the Daffy Day! Nice, and important, to support the survivors!

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  29. Daffodil Day? What a lovely idea! I adore your recipe as well. I just made a similar dish last week with shrimp and fresh peas. It's so springy and cheerful!

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  30. I love the idea of Daffodil Day and the pins to wear. Plus this lemon pasta is a winner.....simplicity in Italian food always works for me! Roz

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  31. I love the idea of Daffodil Day and the pins to wear. Plus this lemon pasta is a winner.....simplicity in Italian food always works for me! Roz

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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