You can make this dish using fresh or frozen vegetables, which makes it nice and versatile. The main thing you'll need fresh is the lemon, garlic and basil. It's a nice, light dish that can be whipped up quickly. Enjoy!
You can use the GF noodles of your choice, in this case a penne worked great with broccoli & spinach.
Summer Pasta Dish with Lemon, Garlic & Basil
*You'll prepare the vegetables and noodles at the same time, then use the noodle pot to made the light sauce and mix everything together.*
Steam Vegetables
*While you're boiling water and cooking pasta, below, prepare your steamed vegetables.*
Add to a pot with a tight fitting lid:
3 cups fresh or frozen vegetables - mix and match broccoli, peas, and/or diced zucchini
Add ~1/2" water, and put on high heat, with lid on, until steam is visibly coming out. Turn off the heat and leave the pot where-is until I'm ready to use.
If you want use fresh or frozen diced spinach, you'll add this after the vegetables have cooked and sat ~5 minutes. Just add:
~1/2 - 3/4 cup frozen diced spinach or 1 - 2 cups diced fresh spinach on top of the steamed vegetables and put the lid back on. Let sit 2-3 minutes, then mix. Put lid back on and leave until ready to drain and add to the pasta later. *Make sure you drain this before adding to your pasta!*
Steamed, then rested a few minutes before adding some frozen diced spinach on top, then replaced the lid. Once removing and draining, it's ready to add to the sauce and pasta at the end.
Cook Pasta
Cook one package gluten-free pasta as directed on the package. Make sure to taste, so it's to the softness you desire. I find GF pasta typically needs an extra couple minutes of cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water and set aside. There are many kinds of GF pasta - personally, my favorite types are ones that include a mix of brown rice, white rice, corn, and quinoa. I find these noodles give me the best texture and flavor. But go with your favorite!
A couple tips that I find helpful when cooking GF pasta
1. Salt the water. I usually add about 1 Tbsp salt to my pot.
2. Taste before draining, since often it needs an extra couple minutes of cooking.
3. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Light Garlic, Lemon & Basil Sauce
Once you've drained and rinsed your pasta and set it aside, add to your large pot over medium heat:
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
Add and cook until fragrant (~1-2 minutes):
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Salt & Pepper, a few dashes of both
Add and stir in quickly:
2 - 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Mix together, then add and mix in:
1 cup cold chicken broth (you can use 1 cup water + 1 tsp GF bouillon paste)
2-3 tsp cornstarch
*If you don't have cold chicken broth, then mix your 2-3 tsp cornstarch with 1/8 - 1/4 cup cold water before adding.
Whisk/stir sauce over medium heat until bubbling and the mixture has thickened slightly.
Thickening the sauce - ready to toss it all together. The lemon-garlic smell is fabulous.
Add the following and toss together:
cooked, rinsed and drained pasta
steamed vegetables, drained
1/2 - 1 cup grated parmesan
3 Tbsp roughly sliced fresh basil
salt & pepper, to taste - I just usually serve some on the side in case anyone wants to add some
In this case, I'd added and mixed in the vegetables and basil, then added the noodles and cheese. The recipe is very forgiving - so just go with what works for you!
Tossed and ready to serve.
Another days version - peas and broccoli with spaghetti pasta.
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