Spinach Pasta with a Lemon Basil Parmeasan Cream Sauce

The request has been made... some ooey gooey pasta dinner. The summer busyness has caused our kitchen to not be the place to be. Add putting a house onto the market to our level of busy and it's pretty much throw something in our tummies and move on. We needed a dinner. A yummy sit down and ooo and ahh over something "scrumptious" as my son now calls everything dinner! We were watching a cooking channel show about making fresh pasta and although this pasta is not homemade, we were inspired non the less. This meal is quick and will please all the people at your table, big or small!

Begin by boiling your choice of pasta in salted water

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

1 onion-diced (I used a sweet vidalia)

2 cloves of garlic peeled

1 small zucchini-diced

1/2 small bundle of asparagus-diced

salt and pepper

3/4 cup of chicken broth

1 lemon zest and juice

1/3 cup of half and half

1/2 - 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

While the pasta boils. Sautee the onion in some olive oil for 5 minutes on medium to low heat. You want them to become clear and silky looking without browning or burning.  Chop, zest, or toss in the garlic with the onions. (I broke up the cloves a bit and put them in whole. I pulled them out before I served it.) Add in the diced zucchini and asparagus. Salt and pepper to your own taste. Zest the lemon. Slice it in half and add its juice. Sautee for 5 more minutes to soften the vegies and combine the flavors. Add in the chicken broth and stir. Add in the cream and parmesan cheese. Simmer on medium/low until the sauce is thick and creamy. When pasta is ready, remove 1/3 of the pasta water with a mug and set it aside and drain the pasta as usual. You want a small amount of the pasta water to be available to add to the sauce after the noodles. This will thin out the sauce a bit and help it to cover the noodles. You most likely will not need the entire 1/3 of the cup. Add 1/2 the noodles to the pan of sauce and toss. Drizzle in just a bit of the pasta water. Add in small amounts of additional noodless until the noodles are well covered. Adding small amounts of noodles at a time will ensure that you don't run out of sauce and have too many noodles. Serve, eat very slowly and enjoy!!!