The weather has been quite gloomy lately in this side of the hemisphere and I find myself already longing for summer. Perhaps it was because I was cooped in the house for about half a year? Probably. Luckily, a sunny day is never too distant in my country and the sun will shine again soon.

Meanwhile, these beautiful lemons just arrived from the farm and are demanding to be used. After all, it would be a shame to wait too long saving it for the right day only to discover that when that day has arrived your produce has spoiled (does this really only happen to me?). I ended up choosing pasta as my canvas where I know the lemony zing would clearly shine through. This pasta is nothing bold or different and comes together rather quickly. I enjoy the ease of using minimal ingredients and find that it’s one of the best ways to appreciate ingredients in its pure state.

The pasta gets its pink hue first from being boiled in naturally colored water then later splashed with lemon juice. There’s a whole science about it on acids and bases but really all you need to know is that it turns a gorgeous pink and is very fun to watch. This step is completely optional but if it was a choice between fancy pink noodles or normal beige ones, I would choose pink.

Just A Few Tips

• Make sure to reserve your pasta water for when you make the sauce.
• Contrary to belief, butter or oil should not be added to cooked noodles as this lessens the ability for the sauce to cling to the pasta.
• Cooking pasta is usually a multitasking process that goes by very quickly so make sure your pasta is already being boiled before you begin making the sauce that way you can add in the pasta when you need to.
• You can find an easy way to make garlic confit here (the French make it sound fancy but I promise you it’s effortless).
• Use the boiled cabbage for salads, stir frys, soups, in between burger buns, etc.

The concept for this recipe was inspired from Fooduzzi, another great food blog which you should definitely check out. It was here where I discovered you could tint pasta so thank you Alexa for sharing your ideas with us.

Print Recipe

Lemony Pastel Pink Pasta with Garlic Confit

A quick zesty pretty in pink pasta filled with velvety garlic cloves.

Prep Time2 minutes mins

Cook Time8 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Easy, Quick Meals

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 329kcal

Ingredients

• 2 small heads purple cabbage halved
• 500 g dry pasta noodles (i used spaghettini)
• ½ purple onion chopped
• ¼ cup garlic oil from the confit
• 10 cloves garlic confit*
• 1½ lemon juiced
• ½ tsp thyme
• zest of 1 lemon
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add in the purple cabbage and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the purple cabbage and use in a stir fry or for a side salad.
• Add pasta noodles to the tinted water and cook until al dente.*
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan large enough to fit your cooked pasta, heat up the garlic oil then sauté the onions. Add in the cloves, lemon juice and thyme then the cooked noodles. Toss everything together then add the zest, salt and pepper. pour in some pasta water if you want a thicker sauce. Top with basil and chili flakes. Serve immediately.

Notes

*Feel free to add or lessen the garlic to your preference.

*Cook the noodles slightly firmer than al dente as they will continue to cook in the saucepan. The noodles are directly transferred to the sauce. No draining necessary. 

Recipe inspired from Fooduzzi

 

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