The basis for this recipe showed up in an email from Rachael Ray, and it looked to me to be just the thing to go with some marinated salmon.
Of course, I had to make a few changes.
There were six ounces of cream cheese that needed using up, so opted for that in place of the called-for heavy cream; and, after making it mostly as called for, I am cutting the amount of lemon in half and adding some good stock to smooth it all out.
Add a bit o’ bacon, and you have a decent riff on a carbonara. Just a thought…
INGREDIENTS
•Salt
•1 pound pasta, I used fettuccine
•3 tbsp olive oil
•4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
•1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
•1 lemon, zested and juiced
•6 oz softened cream cheese
•1 cup good chicken or veggie stock
•1 cup grated Asiago cheese
•Fresh parsley, finely chopped
•10 or 12 fresh basil leaves, very thinly sliced
Cook your pasta of choice in well-salted water according to package instructions
Reserve a ladle of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return to the pot to keep warm-ish.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add the oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper.
Sauté for five minutes, then add the reserved pasta water, the stock, lemon juice, and softened cream cheese.
Raise the heat and bring to a bubbling simmer, stirring, until the cheese is nicely melted and the sauce is creamy smooth.
Add the lemon zest and half of the grated cheese, stirring until the cheese is melted.
Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste – a pinch of sugar might not hurt here either, just a thought.
Add the pasta to the sauce in the pan along with some of the chopped fresh parsley and basil leaves (save the rest to scatter over the top of the plate), remove the pan from the heat and toss to combine.
Cover and let rest for a minute or two, then serve with the reserved grated cheese, parsley, and basil.
We had ours with that marinated salmon and I used chicken stock because I had a carton open in the fridge, but you could easily go vegetarian with this by using veggie stock and serving on its own.
I hardly even missed the bacon…