One-Pot Lemon Basil Pasta

I felt inspired to make a spring-inspired Italian dish, seeing as Andrew and I will be exploring the streets in Italy in just 1 year form now, on our honeymoon!!! Insert all of the emojis here. I have been making more and more of these one-pot pastas for dinner. It is seriously the easiest thing to throw together for dinner since the crock pot, but tastes like I worked all day creating the perfect sauce. I bought one of those cheap basil plants at my farmer's market for like $3 a couple of weeks ago, expecting it to dry out and die within a day or so, but Andrew and I have been really good about watering it a little every day, keeping it in the shade for most of the day, and it is really flourishing! So much so, that I was able to throw in almost 3/4 of a cup of fresh leaves into this pasta dish, and you would never know that I ever took a single leaf. What I also love just as much as basil is fresh lemon. This dish calls for lemon juice and lemon zest. Double the fun! It makes for a very light dish, and if you're not a goat cheese fan, feel free to use cream cheese or heavy cream instead. But you all know me, and anything I can sneak goat cheese into, I will. I served this as a vegetarian meal, but feel free to add in some grilled chicken or sausage for an added boost!

One-Pot Lemon Basil Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. pasta of your choice, I used linguine
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2-3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• fresh parsely for garnish

In a large stock pot, add in the pasta, broth, water, basil, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Bring to a medium boil, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until the liquid is almost all absorbed, stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat, add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, mozzarella, goat cheese, and parmesan. Stir until all of the cheese has melted into the pasta and a nice cream sauce forms. Serve hot and garnish with fresh parsley.