Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tilapia with Lemon Spaghetti



Like it or not, I'm a fan of Rachael Ray. I don't like everything she cooks, but I love her 30-minute meal concept. So occasionally after work I can catch her show on the food network. One day I happened to catch the Sea Note episode and when I saw her making this lemon spaghetti, I knew I had to try it. Along with the lemon spaghetti, she made flounder francese with toasted almonds, lemon and capers. My husband doesn't like flounder, and I don't think either of us are fond of capers - so I decided to try it with tilapia, seasoned with salt and pepper with a simple dip in egg then lightly fried in EVOO. The result - a seriously satisfying and somewhat healthy dish. I use light cream and high fiber pasta (Smart Taste). It's a way to get healthy fish into my somewhat picky husband.

LEMON SPAGHETTI
Source: Rachael Ray

Salt
1 pound spaghetti
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (easily reduced)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream (I use light cream with excellent results)
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (omitted)
1/2 cup (10 or 12 leaves) fresh basil, very thinly sliced (omitted)
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1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop the spaghetti into the pot.

2. Heat a large deep skillet over low heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.

3. When the pasta has been cooking about 5 minutes, add lemon juice, a ladle of the cooking water from the pasta and the cream to the garlic and oil. Raise heat a bit to bring sauce to a bubble.

4. Drain pasta when it still has a good bite to it, al dente. Add lemon zest and half of the cheese to the cream sauce. Season the sauce with salt, to taste. Add pasta to pan and turn off heat. Toss the pasta with sauce a minute or 2, allowing it time to soak up the sauce.

5. Top the plates of pasta or platter with remaining cheese, parsley and basil.

8 comments:

Liz said...

Mmmm... I love lemon spaghetti! I have made Giada's version, but now I'll have to try Rachael's (with cream, yummy!)

Court Cooks said...

that dish looks wonderful!!!

Sarah said...

Everything is better with cream. Looks good!

Anonymous said...

That sounds great and looks AMAZING! I love the fish with the spaghetti! I would have never thought of it, but it looks perfect. YUM!

Ashlee said...

i love rachael ray, too! and that looks fantastic.

Melissa said...

Hi, I am not a huge lemon fan, I was wondering whether the lemon is overbearing or just brightens and freshens the dish? Thanks

Tricia said...

Melissa, if you use the amount specified, it really should just be more of a "brightening" aspect of the dish. I do like mine lemony, so I sometimes add more. But you could easily reduce the lemon as well. HTH :)

Jaime said...

yum!! this looks soooo good! i've seen lemon spaghetti before, but not with cream... even better!