Baked Lemon Spaghetti

For Taelin's birthday party this year, I decided to make three different baked pastas.  My thinking was that pasta is usually a people pleaser and that it could be done ahead of time the day before making the actual party day a little less stressful.  I had other things too like a huge fruit tray and salad with all the fixings, but pasta was definitely the main event.  I did a baked ziti with marinara sauce and a baked cheese tortellini with Alfredo sauce which were both enjoyed by all, but by far my favorite was the lemon baked spaghetti.

This is certainly NOT a weight watcher friendly dish but it was so good I just turned a blind eye for the meal (and will again).  I did change a few things from the original recipe trying to make it a little easier on the body and pocketbook but again my inspiration came from Pinterest.


Ingredients
1 (14.5 ounce) package spaghetti
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz fat free sour cream
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions (minus a couple of minutes since you are going to put it in the oven it will cook a little there). Drain spaghetti and place in a large bowl.
2. Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add garlic and cook until sizzling and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, Italian parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Pour lemon sauce over the spaghetti and stir.  Once combined, pour into lightly greased casserole dish.
3. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After 30 minutes, take dish out of the oven and remove foil and sprinkle 1/2 cup Parmesan on top.  Place dish back into the oven for 7 or 8 minutes, just until cheese is melted and noodles have begun to turn golden in a few places. Serve immediately.

This was a pretty easy dish to make and the flavor was amazing.  Because I wanted to make sure I was serving my guests something that was tasty, I of course tried the dish before I served it.  It was because I did this that I can safely say that this dish isn't really one that is best made ahead of time. When I first made it, it was so incredibly creamy and the next day, while the flavor was still there, the creaminess was not.

I can see myself serving this maybe once a month as a side dish to go with grilled chicken or on it's own with a big salad but it is far too rich to eat very often.  And since the last time I made the pasta it was February, best be putting that on the March menu plan sooner than later!