Any excuse to make pasta, drink wine and sit with my friends.  So, after deciding on Beautiful Ruins for her next review, Jess & I thought a delicious pasta dish would beautifully complement.  So, so, so good.  So light and airy.  So unexpected.  So. Good.

Jess and I made the pasta from scratch, while surprisingly easy, is totally not necessary to really enjoy this dish!  The roasted garlic will make your entire kitchen smell like heaven.  Almost so good that you wish it were a perfume. The preserved lemons are tough to find, we did spot some at The Cheese Store in Silverlake.  The smell atrociously.  Taste delicious when warm, not so much when cold.   Make lots, store it in individual containers and love on those leftovers for days!  I generally hate leftovers, so this is saying quite a bit for me!   Enjoy!

Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic
adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook, recipe by Molly O’Neill

2 heads of garlic

1 T plus 2 t olive oil

Salt

2 T unsalted butter

1 preserved lemon, pulp and rind finely chopped

1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1 lb Fettuccine

Freshly ground black pepper

Zest of one lemon

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top third off each head of garlic and discard. Drizzle the heads with a teaspoon each of olive oil, wrap in foil and roast until the garlic is very soft and golden brown, 50 to 70 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

2. Squeeze the garlic out of skins. Set aside.

3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fettuccine until al dente. Toward the end of cooking, scoop out about 1/2cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta and place in a serving bowl.

4. Meanwhile, combine the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. When the butter melts, add the roasted garlic and preserved lemon and cook for 1 minute.

5. Toss the fettuccine with the preserved lemon mixture. Toss again with the Parmesan and season generously with salt and pepper. Add a bit of the reserved pasta water if necessary. Grate the zest of one lemon on top to serve.