Monday Menu

Here is a new dinner we had last week, and it was enjoyed by all of us. When I made it, I fully expected Brad and I to like it and the kids to tolerate it at best. But, much to my delight, everyone loved it! It is from The Pioneer Woman, and if you care to have a more in-depth recipe with pictures of each step, go check it out there. But here is my version:

Baked Lemon Pasta

1 pound thin spaghetti

4 TBSP butter

2 TBSP olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

2 cups sour cream (I used Daisy Light)

1/2 tsp. salt

lots of grated Parmesan cheese (I used about 1 to 1 1/2 cups)

parsley, chopped (I left this out)

Preheat oven to 375. Cook spaghetti to al dente according to package directions.

In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over low heat. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into pan. TURN OFF HEAT.

Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste and add additional salt if needed (I didn't because the Parmesan cheese is going to add some salty kick.) Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together. Pour spaghetti into oven safe dish.

Bake, tightly covered, for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 7-10 minutes. Don't bake too long or the pasta will dry out. An additional note: at this point, stay near the kitchen to hear the timer. Do not leave to pick up your daughter from a Girl Scout meeting and ask your teenage son to listen for the timer and remove the dinner. Most likely, that son will get distracted by the beautiful sunshine outside and disappear. You just may come home to find the dinner still in the oven and the timer still beeping. The pasta may be on the dry side if you do this. Just sharing some hard-learned wisdom.

Anywho...when you take the pasta from the oven, squeeze a bit more lemon juice over the top. Cover with Parmesan cheese and then chopped parsley. Give a final squeeze of lemon at the end.

I served this with my favorite Strawberry Spinach Salad. If you missed that recipe, go here to see it. It is so worth making! So yummy. Love that strawberry & lemon together.

Here's Brenna's review of the pasta: "This is so good! Mommy, it tastes like you put lemonade in my noodles!" Mmm-hmm.