Lemony Vegetable Pasta

The crème fraîche from the edamame soup came in a one-cup container for $7.99, and the recipe only called for 1/4 C.  Damned if I'm going to let the rest languish until it spoils.  Off I went searching for "recipes to use up creme fraiche" and found a lovely list on brit+co.  There were several I liked, but this one fit my vegetarian rotation and the part where I didn't feel like cooking all afternoon.

The original version from The Millennial Cook calls it Asparagus pasta.  It's off-season, and I didn't want to compound using up an expensive ingredient by buying $4/lb asparagus.  Plus, they were all thick and woody.  Free carrot from the garden.  I did approve of her motivation with the asparagus being because zucchini noodles sounded gross to her.  About time someone was brave enough to admit that.

If you don't have crème fraîche, you can use cream cheese.  Mascarpone works if that's what you're stuck with.  You're going to taste the lemon the most, with tangy undertones of the cheese.

My only real issue with the original recipe was the serving size.  I made a half recipe, but kept the full amount of peas, and it was quite a bit more than 3 servings.  I even measured the pasta in my little spaghetti-portion tool.  I'm calling it a standard 4-portion recipe here.

8 oz thin pasta like spaghetti (I used linguine)
kosher salt
*1 large carrot
1 C fresh or frozen peas
*1 lemon
*1/4 C crème fraîche
*1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper
garnishes such as toasted pine nuts, more parm, fresh basil, or lemon zest

1.  Start boiling 4 quarts of lightly salted water for your pasta.

2.  While it's coming to a boil, peel the carrot.  If you have a spiralizer, go for it.  If not, make long strips with the peeler, like wide noodles.  This is why I got linguine instead of spaghetti, so the strips would mimic the shape of the pasta somewhat.

3.  Assuming the water still isn't boiling, start the sauce.  Zest the lemon into a bowl.  Save some of the zest on the side if you want to garnish with it.  Once that's done, cut and juice the lemon and add the juice to the bowl.  Stir in the crème fraîche, cheese, pepper, and salt to taste.

4.  The water should finally be boiling.  Add the pasta.  About halfway through the cooking, add the peas.  When the pasta is nearly done, add the carrot strips, just for one minute to soften them a bit.  Since I was going to be microwaving leftovers, I didn't add them to the pot.  I left them in the colander and poured the hot pasta water over them to blanch.  But that's the next step.

5.  Before draining pasta, reserve 1/2 C of the liquid in case the sauce needs to be thinned.  Drain into a colander over the sink, do not rinse, and return to the pot.  Add the sauce and toss, adding back some of the pasta water if too thick.  You won't really be able to see the sauce on the pasta, being the same color, but you can taste it.

6.  Plate pasta and garnish as desired.  Serve immediately.