Fettuccine With Lemon, Mint And Parmesan.

Martha called this dish, 'simple & sensational ...' and it probably would have been if only I'd followed the directions! I don't really follow directions with pasta dishes, especially when they looked as easy as this one, I use the ingredients listed and just sort of go from there. This pasta dish was good, but it just had too much liquid which is what happens when you cut the amount of pasta in half, but not the liquids. Oh well, it still tasted good and I'd try it again - but paying more attention to the details.

The original recipe as posted does not call for chicken. I added it to the dish and thought it worked really well. This dish would also make a great side dish to chicken or seafood.

Fettuccine with lemon, mint and Parmesan

1 pound dried fettuccine
Coarse salt
3 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (1 cup), plus more for garnish
2 Tbs. julienned lemon zest
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. fresh lemon zest
1/2 c. torn fresh mint leaves
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Crushed red-pepper flakes, optional

1. Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.

2. Transfer pasta to a large bowl and mix in reserved cooking liquid, cheese, lemon zest and juice, mint, oil and red-pepper flakes if desired. Divide among dishes, garnish with cheese and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

Martha's notes: To lend this dish a different aromatic boost, add torn fresh basil in place of the mint.

Recipe obtained from: Martha Stewart Living, September 2008.

My thoughts: Any long strand pasta would work in place of fettuccine, I used linguine because it's what I had on hand. Next time I would chop the mint, I think it would work better that way.