 Life would be uninteresting without a weekly serving of pasta. Between the shapes, fillings and sauces, there are limitless possibilities for a bowl of pasta. I have approximately 40 pasta recipes under this category on my website. This doesn’t include the one pot or one pan recipes for gnocchi.
Last week in The New York Times, food writer and cook book author, Melissa Clark, had a recipe for Buttery Lemon Pasta with Almonds and Arugula. My husband adores pasta in any shape or sauce for that matter. For this week’s pasta meal, I was intrigued by Melissa’s recipe. The combination of arugula, sliced almonds in a simple sauce made with pasta water infused with lemon juice and zest sounded enticing.
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 This past weekend I had a craving for risotto and recently caught an episode of America’s Test Kitchen where Elle Simone Scott demonstrated an easier method for making shrimp risotto; constant stirring wasn’t required.
For the recipe you’ll need 1-pound extra-large shrimp, table salt, vegetable oil, water, whole black peppercorns, bay leaves, unsalted butter, an onion, a fennel bulb, baking soda, minced fresh garlic, Arborio rice, dry white wine, Parmesan cheese, minced fresh chives, lemon zest and lemon juice. 
I love it when my family finds interesting recipes that they think my husband and I might enjoy. This time around it was my husband that found an interesting take on spaghetti squash. On the Garden and Gun Magazine’s website, he found Spaghetti Squash with Kale and Pecorino Romano Cream. The recipe is by chef Ben Wheatley of Greyfield Inn, on Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia.
For the recipe you’ll need spaghetti squash, olive oil, chili flakes, fresh kale, lemon juice, butter, salt, shallots, fresh garlic, heavy cream, pecorino Romano cheese, sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, toasted walnuts and parsley.  I love zucchini for its adaptiveness to both sweet and savory recipes. Last summer I made Ali Slagle’s recipe for Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs with Feta. You can’t go wrong with Lidia Bastianich’s recipe for Lemony Shrimp Over Zucchini either. For sweet recipes, Gourmet Magazine’s Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake or Jerrelle Guy’s yummy Zucchini Muffins with Cinnamon Crunch Topping are wonderful.
Recently my daughter sent me a recipe for Creamy Zucchini Pasta, a recipe she found on the website The Proper Modern. This delightful recipe takes a handful of ingredients and turns them into a luscious cream sauce that doesn’t rely on an overabundance of butter or cream. The addition of pasta cooking water helps extend the richness of the sauce. Besides the zucchini you’ll need shallots, fresh garlic, Parmesan cheese, fresh basil leaves, heavy cream and pasta cooking water. The recipe calls for a ½ cup of pasta water. I suggest reserving two cups as additional water made be needed to adjust the sauce to the consistency you prefer. Also, I like to use the pasta water when reheating leftovers in the microwave.  It’s a beautiful Sunday at the Jersey shore. The temperature is 70° with blue skies, no humidity and wispy clouds above. I’m sitting at my computer reflecting on the delicious dish I made the other evening, Creamy Pasta with Ricotta and Herbs. The recipe is from Melissa Clark of The New York Times from her column “A Good Appetite.” The recipe was captivating as it was made with just a handful of ingredients and relied on fresh soft herbs for flavor. As you recall, I have lots of herbs in my garden this summer. For this recipe you’ll need a short pasta (shells, cavatappi, farfalle, ditali or wagon wheels), freshly grated Parmesan cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, coarsely ground black pepper and fresh soft herbs such basil, chives, fennel fronds, parsley, mint, tarragon, chervil or dill.
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