I've used a decent amount of garlic lately when cooking - and no one around here complains because we do love garlic. However, I had the funniest conversation the other day with my two girls.
Younger: Is there a lot of garlic in this?
Older: Oooooh yeah.
Younger: That's okay. Doesn't garlic make your breath smell good?
Older: Uh, no.
Me: Um, nope.
Younger: But mom told us that, I thought!
Older: She was joking.
Me: Yep. Sorry. [starts laughing]
Younger: Argh!!!!
Despite this, they still love dishes with plenty of garlic, like this yummy pasta dish. If you make sure to cook your garlic nicely, it removes a lot of the spice and you're left with the wonderful garlic flavors. Enjoy!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy pasta meal!
Light & Easy Pasta with Garlic, Peas & Lemon
*You'll prepare the vegetables and noodles while you're making the sauce, then can toss everything together in the sauce pan.*
Steam Vegetables (peas (or broccoli) with option to add spinach)
*While you're boiling water and cooking pasta, below, prepare your steamed vegetables.*
Add to a pot with a tight fitting lid:
1 cup peas OR 2 cups broccoli (if you prefer vs peas)
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. *Drain before adding to the pasta/sauce.*
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/sauce!*
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.
Garlic & Lemon Sauce
In a large saucepan, heat over medium to medium-high heat:
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
Add and cook until fragrant (~2 minutes):
1 - 2 bulbs garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (This is a lot of garlic, yes)
Salt & Pepper, a few dashes of both
My daughter: how much garlic did you put in this? Me: two bulbs. Her: oh. Okay. Wait, two BULBS?!!
Add and stir in quickly:
~1/3 - 1/2 cup fresh juice from lemons (~1 1/2 lemons)
1 - 2 tsp dried oregano
1 - 2 tsp dried basil
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.
Stirring in the cornstarch/broth mixture to thicken.
Mixed in the steamed veggies from earlier. In this case here there are peas and a bit of spinach.
Turn off heat. Add and stir in:
1/2 - 1 cup grated Parmesan
Yay for cheese!
Nicely mixed in and ready for the tomatoes.
Add and stir in:
large handful grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced
Folding in some tomatoes - ready to add the pasta
Fold your drained pasta, from above. Season with additional salt & pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
