Pasta with Lemon

So, one of my favorite sites to read is Path to Freedom journal. I especially like reading their weekly roundups of meals. While it does seem repetitive to some, it is in season and local. As they are only a couple of hours south, the in season foods are similar.

One meal they seem to have frequently is pasta with Meyer lemon and broccoli. I've been wanting to try a pasta with lemon for awhile. I don't have a lemon tree, and I don't see the point in paying $1 for a lemon in a town where there's a tree on every 10th house. So...I waited till we got lemons from the CSA.

Thursday is a "use it up" night. Wednesday FELT like the "use up all of last week's CSA vegetables" night - I made fried rice with carrot, celery, onion, garlic, edamame, and cabbage. But Thursday used up a lemon, the arugula, the last of the onion, and more celery.

Wow, this was so delicious and lemony...definitely will be making this again.

Pasta with Lemon Arugula Pesto

1 lb. pasta (I used Barilla Plus high protein, bought on sale with a coupon): $1

1 bunch arugula: 1.00

1 lemon: 0.30

2 oz grated parmesan, plus extra to top: 0.69

2 T olive oil: 0.22

3 cloves garlic: 0.15

3 stalks celery, sliced: 0.30

1 small onion, diced: 0.20

1 roasted red pepper from a jar: 0.30

2 T canola oil: 0.07

1/2 bag frozen french green beans: 1.15

1 can cannellini beans: 0.95

salt and pepper

Total: $6.33 for 8 generous servings, or $0.79 per serving.

To make the pesto: in a food processor, combine arugula, zest of one lemon, juice of one lemon, 2 oz parmesan (grated), salt, and olive oil. Puree until smooth, set aside.

Boil pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, microwave the green beans to defrost.

In a skillet, saute the onion and celery in canola oil until soft and starting to brown. Add chopped red pepper, garlic, green beans, and saute until the edges of some of the beans start to brown.

Add cooked pasta, salt and pepper, cannellini beans, and ALLL the pesto, and stir to combine.

This pasta was heavy on the veggies for the first four servings, because my pan wasn't big enough to add the whole pound of pasta. I decided a few months ago to cook the whole pound when I cook pasta (saves time and energy). We generally eat half and the rest goes in the freezer. The second half of the pasta and beans got mixed in with the leftovers, which is a lunch and another dinner.