Spaghetti with roasted brussels sprouts and parmesan

A heavy (with veggies!) pasta dinner

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• Best for: dinner, serves 3-4 (would need sides for 4)

• Difficulty: easy

• Time: 1 hours total (includes roasting, boiling.)

• Recommended pairings: a light green salad

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If you have a lot of leftover vegetables that need to be used, don't worry: you don't need to make a salad! This is a versatile pasta dish that would be great with basically any roasted fall vegetables (zucchini, squash, mushrooms). Other pasta that work well: fettuccine, penne, orecchiette.

Ingredients

1 large box of pasta-12 ounces for long-cut (spaghetti), 16 ounces for short-cut

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

3 cups fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered

3 teaspoons lemon zest

1  teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

Optional: 2-3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

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First...

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut Brussels sprouts and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Place on baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes, turning halfway. If you like them crispy/not crispy at all, take them out whenever they look right to you.

(If using: place 2-3 tbsp breadcrumbs on foil, broil for 1 minute)

While that's happening...

In a large saucepan, cook pasta in boiling, well-salted water according to package directions until al dente (this means, in simple terms, that it has a bite to it. It isn't super soft).

Drain pasta, reserving 1½ cups of the pasta water (liquid gold) for sauce.

Then...

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Stir in 1 cup reserved pasta water, lemon zest and thyme. Bring just to boiling.

Add cooked pasta, Brussels sprouts and Parmesan to skillet. Toss with tongs until thoroughly coated, adding additional pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce.

The sauce will likely look too watery, and you might think to add in more cheese, but once you let the pasta sit the sauce will thicken a lot!

Finally...

Season with pepper and serve garnished with extra grated Parmesan, if desired.