Lemon Pasta: My Daughter's Favorite Dish

Assuming nothing has changed in the last 24 hours (never a good assumption with a 10 year old daughter), my daughter's favorite dish is lemon pasta. It is a recipe I've tweaked from one published in Cook's Illustrated a while back. When there are left overs we freeze them and put them in her lunch for school. Sorry no picture this time. It all got eaten before I could grab my camera.

Ingredients

1lb spaghetti (rotini and fettucine also work well)
1/4 heavy cream
1 medium shallot, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
fresh basil to taste (I use about 1/4 of finely shredded lemon basil)

Cook the pasta in well salted boiling water until just done. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking liquid and drain. Add the oil to the pot and cook the shallots over medium heat until soft - about 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cream, simmer for 2 minutes, then turn the heat as low as it will go. Return the pasta to the pot and stir to coat. Add the lemon juice and basil stir/toss again. Check the consistency of the sauce - it should be thick and luscious. If needed add a quarter cup of the cooking water and toss/stir untilwell combined. Check again, adding water until the sauce is the desired consistency. While tossing the pasta, add the Parmesan and lemon zest a little at a time. If you add the Parmesan all at once you'll get big clumps instead of a nice bit of cheese throughout the dish.

Serve immediately. Garnish with a bit more basil. If you like spicy, adding a lot of black pepper is delicious!