Pasta with Lemon cream sauce and fresh seasonal vegetables

It is just turning to spring and the weather is finally getting warmer. The warm weather has been inspiring us to make some fresh lemony dishes lately. We have switched from the gingerbread pancakes to lemon blueberry pancakes, we have broken out the old standby blueberry scones with lemon glaze recipe and we decided to make a nice fresh pasta dish with a lemon cream sauce. To make this even better we added some fresh vegetables. It turned out great! This is one of my favorite fresh pasta preparations. I believe this would be a typical summer dish from the Amalfi region of Italy where lemons are plentiful. We chose to use meyer lemons which are a bit sweeter than the usual lemos abvailable here, but from what I hear, still not as sweet as those in Amalfi. This could be done with regular lemons as well, but you may want some additional honey to sweeten it a bit more.

I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

• 2 meyer lemons (zest, rind juice and wedges will be used)
• 1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 2-3 shallots diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh asparagus (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas (optional)
• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach (optional)
• 1 pound fresh made papardelle or dried fettuccine
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano cheese
• Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions:

• remove the rind of 1 lemon with vegetable pealer. Cut the rind into thin strips (jullienne) to be used as garnish later. Separate the sections (supremes) of lemon with a knofe and save for garnish later.
• Bring 4 quarts water to a rapid boil in a large pot, and season with 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Meanwhile, heat oil and zest from 1 lemon in a large skillet over medium. Add 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, honey, and shallots, and cook until shallots are softened and oil is hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk in cream. Let simmer 2 minutes. Add pease and asparagus to the pan and cook 3-4 minutes until vegetables soften
• Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water to use in the cream sauce. When the pasta is al dente transfer to serving bowl and add the juice of 1 lemon. The pasta will absorb the lemon juice as it rests.
• Stir cheese and 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid into skillet with cream sauce. Add pasta and baby spinach, toss to coat. Add remaining 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid if necessary. Divide among 4 bowls, and garnish with pepper julienned rind and Meyer lemon supremes.