Baked Lemon Pasta

I found this recipe for Baked Lemon Pasta on Tasty Kitchen. While it looks really good, it uses 2 cups of sour cream. I decided to use low fat plain yogurt instead to make it a little healthier. I added blanched asparagus. I didn't add any meat but could have. The flavor of this was good. However, I was expecting it to be really light and refreshing and it wasn't. Because it was baked and had cheese in it, the sauce was pretty thick.

Last year I made a recipe for Creamy Garlic Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus and the sauce was made with low fat plain yogurt and lemon juice. While the flavors of the two dishes are similar, I liked the recipe I made last year better. It's lighter and tastes fresher.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Spaghetti
• 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested
• 2 cups Low Fat Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped or dried parsley
• Extra Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus. Bring water to a boil. Add the asparagus and boil for 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness). Drain them and immediately place them in an ice water bath for about 3 minutes.
3. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over low heat. Once the butter has melted, add minced garlic the juice of one lemon into the pan. Turn off heat.
4. Add yogurt and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
5. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen