Super Pasta – Lemon Garlic Spaghetti With Grape Tomatoes and Rapini

I love lemon. It is my favourite gelato flavor. That tangy citrus burst of freshness just brightens any dish. Lemons are also high in Vitamin C, which helps prevent scurvy; they help stimulate your liver; they help clean your  bowels and destroy intestinal worms and if that wasn’t enough, lemons contain 22 anti-cancer fighting compounds.

I also love garlic. How can you not? It is good for your circulation; it boosts your immune system (did you know it was used to fight gangrene during the war?) and is thought to help the body fight colds and flu; it helps with blood pressure; reduces inflammation and is good for cold sores (you apply crushed garlic to the inflamed areas).

Rapini is another all-purpose helper in your dietary tool box. It is said to have cancer-fighting properties; helps keep bones strong; it helps detoxify your liver and also is thought to help reduce inflammation in arthritis patients.

I’ve used grape tomatoes so this is also good for those months when you can’t get fresh tomatoes from the garden (grape tomatoes will give you that real tomato flavour). It contains our friends rapini, garlic and lemon and it is quick and easy to make. It is a great vegetarian recipe for meatless Monday.

Look, down in your pot, it’s a bird….it’s a plane….it’s SUPER PASTA!

Prep time: 30 minutes; Cook time: 30 minutes; Serves: 4 – 6 people

 What you need:

• 454 g Spaghetti
• 2 cups pasta water (reserved)
• 1 tbsp olive oil + 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large shallots, minced
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese + grated cheese for topping
• ½ cup basil, chopped
• 1 dry pint (roughly 12 oz) grape tomatoes cut in half (or cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters)
• 1 bunch (roughly 1 lb) chopped rapini, cooked (ELIN’s TIP: cook the chopped rapini by placing it in the pot with the spaghetti for the last 2 minutes)
• salt, pepper
• red pepper/chili flakes

What you do:

• Cook spaghetti in large pot, add the rapini in the last 2 minutes

• Reserve 2 cups pasta water

• Strain spaghetti and rapini; keep on the side
• In the pot over medium high heat

• Add 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 minced shallots, 4 cloves minced garlic, ½ tsp salt
• Sautée until soft
• Add 1 ½ cups pasta water and ¼ cup heavy cream
• Simmer 2 – 3 minutes
• Add pasta and rapini back to pot
• Stir pasta until coated

• Add 3 tbsp olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, basil, halved tomatoes

• Stir in
• Turn heat down to low, put the lid on  the pot and let sit 2 minutes
• Stir
• If you are finding it too thick, add some of the leftover pasta water
• Serve with extra grated parmesan cheese, season salt and pepper to taste.

• I like things spicy so I also added red pepper flakes to this.

You can be slightly smug knowing that you are eating something that your body will thank you for!