Lemon and Herb Pasta

Am I the only one who seems to be having a super busy summer?  It has been a while since I posted.  We were out of town and I felt I could spare some time today, while I wait for the rice to finish for dinner. 

Yesterday I pulled a recipe from Sunset Magazine for some Herbed Pasta.  I love being able to use fresh herbs from my garden.  So it sounded good. I wondered if my kids could handle pasta without tomato sauce but they suprized me, only slightly.  I started with home made pasta, which I usually do if it's not just a fast weeknight spaghetti.  That made the difference for them to actually eat it.  They did top it with grated parmesean though. 

I made the sauce as the noodles cooked and liked it so well I tried to double it.  That didn't work as well.  I didn't go ALL THE WAY back out to the garden to pick more basil but I had a little bit left, I also didn't add extra garlic and onion but tossed in some more thyme.  Anyway the result was way too lemony but I still liked it.  I should have left it alone but then it wasn't enough to cover all my pasta.  But no one complained so it wasn't too bad for all that.


I toped it with some plain grilled chicken and I thought it turned out to be a lovely meal.


Notes:  I didn't have chives so I used some of my garden garlic and a small amount of the tops of my green onions.  I did like the garlic in there, but didn't use a lot so it wasn't too strong.  I also used fresh basil and thyme as my main herbs and completly forgot about parsley, which quit growing so I didn't have any fresh anyway, but I did have some recently dried, just forgot.  I also didn't have any oregano, fresh or dry so I used some dry marjoram.  I doubt it made much difference. 


Lemon and Herb Pasta


8 or 9 oz fresh fettuccine
3 Tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
2 Tablespoons coursely chopped parsley
2 Tablespoons coursely chopped fresh oregano, basil, lemon verbena or tyme leaves. (or a combination of two or three)
1 teas. grated lemon peel
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice (yup, I used way too much)
1/2teaspoon greshly ground pepper


Prepare fettuccine according to directions.  Meanwhile, in a wide bowl combine all other ingredients.  Drain Pasta and put in bowl with herb mixture.  gently toss to coat.  Add salt to taste.