Lemon Cream Rotini with Veggies: an adaptation of an Ina Garten recipe

We were having company over and I wanted to make a dinner that was nice and refreshing cause it had been a hot one here lately. I already had one pork tenderloin in the freezer, so I went out and got another one to make sure it fed everyone and then I started looking up side dishes. I looked through my mess of recipes on my computer and found a lemon herb pasta salad...I read it over and wasn't too impressed but I liked the idea of lemon because it's so refreshing and light.

Then I remembered back in the day Ina Garten made some sort of lemony, creamy pasta entree. So I went searching on Food Network's website and I found the perfect side dish, Lemon Fusilli with Arugula. I sort of adapted it to what I thought would taste good so here's what I did:

Lemon Cream Rotini with Veggies
(adapted from the original here.)

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, mince or grated
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half (I used fat free)2 lemons, zested and juiced
Salt and pepper
1 bunch broccoli
3/4 pound cauliflower florets, or about 1/2 a head of cauliflower
1 cup fresh corn kernels, or kernels cut from one ear of corn
1 pound dried Rotini pasta
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan and add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cream, zest and juice from 2 lemons and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stems. Cook the florets in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes, remove with wire strainer and set aside. Bring water back to a boil and add the cauliflower florets and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender and drain and set aside.

Bring large pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta according to directions. Drain the pasta in colander and place back in pot and immediately add the cream sauce mixture. Cook on medium until the pasta as absorbed most of the sauce. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl and add the tomatoes, corn and the cooked broccoli and cauliflower. Toss and serve hot.

Picture courtesy of Food Network

Now I made this as a side dish because it was pretty rich. I replaced some of the cream in the original recipe with half and half cause I felt 2 cups of cream was a bit much. Also my grocery store didn't have Arugula so I just didn't use it and I added corn because it's in season and it looked great at the store.

This was surprisingly delicious. I had never really had a real citrus-y flavored pasta before and this was so good and like I said, refreshing. It was great for a summer day and I think went very well with the spicy, cajun seasoned pork tenderloin I grilled up.

I used a Cajun seasoning from Wild Tree Herbs which on of my girlfriends is selling. This seasoning is great! I used it on chicken once before but I was really excited to slather it on these pork tenderloins and then throw them on the grill. It was amazing! So good and with the lemon pasta...they just balanced each other out perfectly. The spicy kick from the Cajun and then the cooling Lemon Cream sauce. Perfect Match!

Sorry I don't have pictures, I was entertaining and didn't want to be a dork and take pictures.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry...
and entertain with a refreshing summer meal!

-BellaRosa