Lemon Rotelle with Langostino and Spinach

To catch the end of tomato season, and before we prefer warm stew over refreshing salad in the fall, I adapted my favorite TV chef personality Ina Garten's Lemon Fusilli and made this warm and tangy pasta salad. I pretty much followed her directions to tee, except for a few changes in the ingredients.

I used whole wheat rotelle instead of fusilli. On top of the health benefits, I also find that short/round-shaped whole grain pasta tend to stay more al dente even if eaten the next day.

I also used spinach instead of arugula, as fresh arugula were out at my local Whole Foods Market today and I saw some very fresh organic baby spinach. To add more texture and protein, I tossed some langostino tails in. Lobster, chicken breasts, or even firm tofu would be great too. You can easily adapt this recipe to your liking.

5-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried whole wheat rotelle pasta
• 1 pound organic frozen broccoli florets thawed (you can use fresh broccoli head to go through the whole blanching and shocking process to get the same result - I just don't want to worry about the leftover broccoli stems so frozen florets are perfect substitutes in this dish)
• 12 oz frozen langostino tail thawed
• 1/2 pound baby spinach
• 1 pint red cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 lemons
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• kosher sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a big saucepan over medium heat, add garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add cream, zest from 2 lemons, juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, when it is thickener.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package for the minimum required cooking time(for example, mine need 9-11 minutes, I stopped at 9 minutes), stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander.
3. Pour the pasta into the big sauce pan with cream mixture. Turn the heat a little up to medium-low, and mix well the sauce and pasta, for 3 minutes. (Now the pasta will be perfectly al dente thanks to the 2 minutes shy earlier)
4. Pile up spinach in a very large mixing bowl (they will wilt down once you pour hot pasta on top), add in hot pasta, langostino, tomatoes, Parmesan and broccoli. Mix well.
5. Lastly, cut the remaining lemon in half lenghwise, slice it 1/4- inch thick crosswise, and toss into the pasta. Serve hot, or at room temperature.