As I mentioned yesterday, I recently found some fantastic Meyer Lemons from a local orchard here in Northern California. They've been endlessly inspiring, as well as delicious, and I fear that I've acquired a new food-addiction. The lemons flavor is so wonderfully bright and sweet-tart that I'm using them all over the place. This dish I created showcases their best flavors and textures in one healthy meal. It's my "Meyer Lemon Fresh Linguine with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Wild Mushrooms."
Last year, I did a post on my first-ever homemade pasta. It was great, but I have to admit that this time surpassed my first round. I've gotten better at forming, kneading and rolling out the dough so that this pasta was toothsome but so very delicate. The Meyer Lemon add incredible depth and freshness; if it weren't so much work I'd make it once a week. Alas, this is one dish that is honestly TRULY worth the effort. For the pasta dough, I again used Mario Battali's recipe and added the Meyer Lemon Zest straight to the eggs in the well before mixing into the dough. It worked perfectly. The dough was very supple this time so I think I also got better with my hand-mixing and kneading. My goal on the condiment for the pasta was to show-off the Meyer Lemon and pull in flavors that were still "Winter" in heartiness but light enough to not completely cloak the taste of the lemon. I definitely succeeded!
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
Serves 4-6 depending on portion size (about 1 1/2 lb. dough)
For the dough:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
5 eggs
2 Meyer Lemons, zested
Remaining ingredients:
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. anchovy paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, minced
1 small Italian hot long chili pepper in oil, minced
kosher salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
4 oz. wild mushrooms (I used beautiful oyster and black trumpet mushrooms)
Juice from 2 Meyer Lemons zested for pasta dough (about 4 T.)
1 T. pasta water reserved after cooking
1/4 c. Asiago Cheese, grated
Method:
1. Prepare the pasta dough completely per recipe and instructions from Chef Batali. This time, I did all the mixing and kneading by hand instead of my Kitchen Aid. I only used that to roll and cut the dough. It worked great!
2. Bring a large pasta pot full of water to a boil and salt generously. Do not add the pasta until the sauce is nearly done since the pasta will only take about 2 minutes to cook.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. When hot, add the anchovy paste to the pan and melt it gently. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and red hot pepper.
4. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Saute until the garlic is light brown. Turn down the heat to low and add the mushrooms. Sweat them about 2 minutes until they start to soften then turn heat back to medium-high and sauté about 4-6 minutes more.
5. Gently put the linguine in the boiling water when the mushrooms are about 2 minutes from being done. When done, drain the pasta and add directly to the skillet and add 1 T. pasta water.
6. Pour or squeeze the Meyer Lemon juice over the pasta and condiments in the skillet and toss very gently with tongs. Incorporate all ingredients.
7. Remove the skillet from heat and serve the linguine. Garnish with Asiago cheese and eat immediately!
After the paste is made, this is really very simple to make. It's also spectacular. If you don't want to make your own pasta, there are plenty of fresh varieties in most gourmet stores. Just make sure to go for fresh with this dish and look for one that has lemon or another bright flavor such as herbs. Enjoy!














