Another delicious recipe from Cooking Light! This recipe for Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce, Asparagus and Peas is a quick and easy weeknight meal.

My husband and I often eat meat-free meals, but most are heavier in flavor and rely on a tomato base. This is quite different from our usual fare. I actually selected the recipe several weeks ago when I was looking to use up heavy cream left over from my ice cream making adventure, and some excess asparagus.

I was amazed at how quickly the dish came together. While the instructions list the pasta and sauce preparation serially, I prepared them concurrently. I started making the sauce at the same time I threw the pasta in the boiling water. I think it took about 20 minutes from the time I put the water on to boil to when I tossed the pasta and sauce together.

I followed there recipe pretty closely, altering the ingredients and procedure only slightly based upon what I had in the house at the time. Since I didn’t have cornstarch, I thickened the lemon cream sauce with about a tablespoon of flour. I also added a handful of Parmesan cheese at the same time I added the cream.

The lemon cream sauce is smooth, light and fresh. The bright tang of lemon and the tasty crunch of asparagus hint at the coming of spring. Served with a Caesar side salad, it was a refreshing and fun weeknight meal.

Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce, Asparagus and Peas

Yields 4 Servings

8 ounces uncooked long fusilli, or pasta of your choice
1 3/4 cups (1 1/2-inch) slices asparagus (about 1/2 pound)
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of ground red pepper
Coarsely ground black pepper (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. During the last minute of cooking time, add asparagus and peas. 3. Drain pasta mixture and set aside.
4. Melt butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat.
5. Saute garlic for 1 minute.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together cornstarch and broth.
7. Add broth mixture to saute pan and bring to a boil.
8. Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly.
9. Remove pan from heat and stire in cream, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and red pepper.
10. Pour sauce over pasta and toss to coat.

I got this Cavatelli and Broccoli recipe from a friend of mine whose Italian cooking is second to none. It’s one of my favorite vegetarian dinners. It is very easy to make, and the only tip I have is to make sure to use fresh broccoli! It really just isn’t the same without that crisp texture that frozen broccoli lacks. This serves about 4 people as a main dish, more if you serve it as a side.

Cavatelli and Broccoli

Ingredients -

• 2 average-size broccoli crowns, cut into bite-size florets
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bag of frozen ricotta cavatelli (located the frozen pasta section of the grocery store)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In the mean time, put the olive oil into a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic when the oil is heated and saute until lightly browned. Add the broccoli florets to the skillet and saute until the broccoli becomes a brighter shade of green, about 5 minutes.

When the pot of water comes to a boil, add the frozen cavatelli straight from the freezer to the water. These cook really fast – once water returns to a boil, let cook for 1-2 minutes then drain.

Mix the cavatelli into the skillet with the broccoli. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the cavatelli and broccoli and serve!

Sunday marked the first snowfall of the year. A cold, wintry day calls for a warm hearty dinner. I love this recipe for Pasta e Fagioli. Since this soup is best when simmered for about an hour, it’s perfectly suited for weekend evenings when one has time to hang out in the kitchen. Preparing the vegetables was also a time-consuming process for me, as it took me awhile to julienne the carrots.

Due to copyright restrictions, I am unable to post the recipe here. However, you can find it on Top Secret Recipes. The flavor of this pasta e fagioli soup is very similar to the one found at Olive Garden, but this soup is thicker and seems to contain more pasta.

I have made very few changes to the original recipe. Due to personal preferences, I used crushed tomatoes in place of diced tomatoes and substituted ground turkey for ground beef. I also omitted the chopped celery, adding 1/4 tsp of celery salt for flavor.

When I prepared the pasta e fagioli soup this time, I found that the finished product was too thick, so I added 1 cup of chicken broth a few minutes before I served the soup. Next time, I might cut down on the pasta. According to Top Secret Recipes, this recipe yields 8 servings. In my experience, it yields 8 large servings! I’m going to try freezing some of the leftovers to keep on hand for quick weeknight meals.

I maintain a “recipe to try” binder that contains recipes I’ve pulled from magazines or found online. Since I’ve had good luck with many other Cooking Light recipes, I decided to give this low fat light alfredo sauce a try. I served it with herb-seasoned baked chicken and steamed broccoli on cellentani pasta.

The Alfredo sauce is easy to make and comes together quite quickly – more quickly that I had anticipated! I was lucky enough to have someone willing to stir the sauce while I drained the pasta and sliced the chicken.

The resulting alfredo sauce had a nice flavor, but the consistency was not what I expected. After blending in the Parmesan cheese, the sauce had a thick fondue-like consistency. I added two additional tablespoons of milk and two tablespoons of chicken broth to thin it to a sauce-like thickness. After tossing the pasta with the Alfredo sauce, the sauce remained smooth but clung quite thickly to the pasta. I was glad that I hadn’t used fettuccine, as it would have been difficult to separate the noodles.

Since I enjoyed the flavor, I will give this sauce another try. If I can’t get the alfredo sauce to be thinner and less sticky, I’ll move onto another recipe. This one has potential. Stay turned for future updates.

Cooking Light: Light Alfredo Sauce

Yields 4 Servings

1 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups skim milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups hot cooked pasta of your choice (8 ounces uncooked pasta)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Cracked black pepper
Optional: Extra milk or chicken broth to thin sauce to desired consistency

1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2) Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
3) Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
4) Add 1 cup Parmesan , cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. If needed, add extra milk or broth 1 tbsp at a time to achieve desired consistency.
5) Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.