Living it Up

Well, ever since we found out that my son has outgrown his almond allergy, and his allergist asked that we reintroduce almonds into his diet, I have been doing it quite happily! Just following doctor's orders! Almonds are one of my favorite things ever. Oh, how I missed them. This pasta was so good. This is a great, filling, and satisfying meat-free dinner.

Linguine with Toasted Almonds, Lemon, and Parsley

Ingredients:

8 ounces whole-wheat linguine
Kosher salt
1 cup raw almonds, toasted and chopped
1 cup parsley leaves, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons almond oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup pecorino Romano (1/2 ounce) grated, for serving

Directions:

Cook pasta in generously salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Toss pasta with remaining ingredients. Adjust consistency with reserved pasta water as desired. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated cheese.

Source: Martha Stewart Whole Living, January/February 2011. You can find it here. I actually found it in the new Meatless cookbook, which you can find information about here.

Notes: I used a whole pound of pasta, and I didn't use whole-wheat pasta either. Just regular pasta. I also didn't have any almond oil, so I used olive oil. Since I increased the amount of pasta used, I also increased the amount of lemon zest and juice that I used. However, I didn't increase any of the other ingredients. I would suggest adding the lemon, salt and pepper, and grated cheese to your taste. I also used Parmesan cheese, because that is what I had on hand.

The cookbook I found this in described this recipe as a deconstructed pesto. I really, really liked it. The lemon/almond combination was so satisfying and delicious. Good stuff!