Zingy Lemon Spaghetti

Here's Giada De Laurentiis's recipe for Lemon Spaghetti which Minks whipped up for supper, with a smidgeon of help from me. I served this with a salad of vine-ripened high lycopene tomatoes from TJ's, a handful of baby yellow plum tomatoes, chopped in two, half a sliced avocado, a chopped up hunk of feta, a fat sprinkle of chopped mint, good olive oil and salt.

Eddie makes a variation on lemon spaghetti, but she insists on finely grated lemon zest and she incorporates some mustard and cream into the sauce. Equally delicious. Ours included the zest of two whole lemons, because we both like our sauce zingy.

1 pound spaghetti
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.