penne alfredo with spinach

Freddy and I went grocery shopping one day and picked up a jar of Alfredo sauce for dinner. Out of curiosity, I peeked in my Everyday Italian cookbook to see how difficult it would be to make my own sauce. It really didn't seem that bad and I loved the results! I halved her recipe to serve just the two of us, of course. Everyday Italian is quickly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks. The sauce was nice and creamy and not overwhelmingly thick. I also loved the lemon in this recipe, especially since I added a couple of handfuls of spinach. If you're not into lemon, I suggest decreasing or omitting that ingredient entirely. Also, Giada highly suggests using fresh pasta. I didn't have fresh and just used dry penne.

Penne Alfredo with Spinach
Serves two
(if you make enough pasta)

Ingredients
3/4 cups heavy cream
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from about 1/2 lemon)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt
4.5 oz fresh pasta (or two servings of dry pasta, penne in this case)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, plus more to taste
A couple of handfuls of spinach, to taste, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained)

Instructions
In a large, heavy skillet, stir 1/2 cup of the cream and the lemon juice to blend. Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until the butter melts, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, spinach and nutmeg. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain. Add the pasta, the remaining cream, the Parmesan, and 1/8 each of salt and pepper to the cream sauce in the skillet. Toss over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the pasta to wide, shallow serving bowls and serve immediately.