It was a dark and stormy night, so I had to cook pasta – always the right menu for a rainy night. Also, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself after returning from spending a glorious week in Monteagle, one of my favorite places in the world. Everyone there is so friendly. If they don’t know you then they really want to, so they invite you to their porch. In Monteagle the main destination is always a porch and the concept of dressing up involves trading flip-flops for sandals. Now I’m back home with no porch invitations, but instead a ton of un-fun obligations requiring real shoes, plus a pile of vacation laundry to deal with. So pasta was necessary to lift the spirits.
The truth is, it’s summertime and a meaty red sauce is just too much. I decided to try and invoke the perfect summer flavors with BLV Pasta. I know what you’re thinking - basil, lemon and vodka! Well, maybe not exactly what you’re thinking, but that’s what I made and it was exactly perfect. This sauce is an herb gardener’s dream. Nashville loves basil and basil, likewise, loves Nashville, so along with many Nashvillians, I have a ridiculous crop.
Wouldn’t it be heavenly if basil grew all year long in this part of the world? I feel so miserly during the winter dividing out the few pitiful stems I buy at the grocery to try and create the luxurious Hot Nut Salad of summers past. Obviously basil was the inspiration for this dish, but vodka? We’ve all enjoyed a true vodka sauce on pasta, basically a good marinara cooked down with a healthy splash of vodka. Yum – perfect on a cold night. So I reasoned that vodka on a rainy summer night might also be just the thing. It was. Lemon in the recipe was an easy choice. I have a crush on lemons that has lasted a life time. If life gives you lemons- lucky you, make something delicious! Mascarpone cheese, red pepper flakes, a tiny bit of butter, and fusilli pasta (remember Kramer’s “Fusilli Jerry” on Seinfield) and everything just came together. I kept thinking this concept was too easy, but really, anything else in the sauce would just have been overkill. The flavor was amazingly bright and rich at the same time. (I’d love to be described that way!) We served it with bourbon-maple glazed salmon and beautiful farm stand yellow and green beans. I was planning to take the leftovers with me for lunch, but it was “discovered” late at night by a hungry bunch of guys who said they sampled the BLV Pasta and liked it so much they didn’t even heat it up before devouring it. In fact I have a request for more at the first opportunity. That’s a pretty good endorsement. I think it’s going to rain all weekend.
Ingredients
12 oz fusilli pasta (or your favorite kind)
6 oz Mascarpone cheese, substitute cream cheese with a little milk to thin
2 Tbsp vodka
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¾ generous cup basil leaves, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp butter
Salt to taste
Optional: fresh grate Parmesan to serve
Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a small saucepan, heat Mascarpone cheese over low heat.
Stir in vodka, lemon zest and juice, and red pepper flakes.
Mix hot cooked pasta with basil and butter and gently mix in the sauce.
Add salt to taste.
