The Secret is Out: Toasted Pasta

I learned a great new trick from an Italian friend of mine: toasting fresh pasta. It's a great little secret, and apologies to Glenn, but I'm gonna share it.

The premise is simple: take fresh pasta (he used big sheets of lasagna; I opted for linguine), pop it in a hot oven (425 degrees) and bake it until it's toasty brown. Then boil it.

Holy smokes - the result is subtle and yet profound: the pasta takes on a deep, nutty flavor and requires almost zilch to dress it up. I tossed my toasted-then-boiled linguine with a mixture of equal parts lemon juice and olive oil, fresh thyme from my garden, lemon zest, and shreds of asiago cheese. Topped it all with some grilled patty pan squash from the farmer's market, and boy - what a meal.

So if you're looking for a twist on the same old same old, this will do the trick. It's a fantastic light summer meal. Toasted pasta - who knew?