Baked Lemon Pasta

Wow!! Two Pioneer Woman recipes in a row. How crazy am I? I guess now that the school year is winding down, I really DON'T want to do any kind of math...at all.

This delightfully light and fresh pasta dish is BEYOND yummy...if you like lemon.

Which I do.

It is easy and simple and therefore PERFECT for my busiest night of the week. Also - anything with lemon makes me think of summer, so this is a great light pasta dish for those hot summer nights.

We served this with freezer garlic bread, but Pioneer Woman recommends serving it with crusty french bread. Don't double unless you're feeding MANY people...just be prepared for leftovers...

Baked Lemon Pasta

1 pound thin spaghetti

1/2 stick (4 TBS) of butter

2 TBS olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of one lemon

2 cups sour cream

1/2 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste

Plenty of Parmesan cheese

Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

Extra lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente.

3. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over LOW HEAT. When butter is melted, add minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice into the pan. Turn off heat.

4. Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Taste, then add more salt if necessary. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.

5. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes. (Don't bake too long or the pasta will dry out) When you remove it from the oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

courtesy Pioneer Woman