Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil

So, not everything I make goes into the blog. Sometimes I'm starving and frantic and forget to snap a photo. Other times, the recipe completely bombs for whatever reason (hello, Jamie Oliver's favourite curry sauce from Happy Days with the Naked Chef). This recipe almost fell into the latter category, but I gave it a judge's save.

Here's the deal: I've mentioned before (here and here) that I love Giada. Love her. Love her because her recipes are so, so, so reliable. Make it the first time for company reliable. As such, I started cooking the Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil from Giada's Kitchen without intensely studying it. I was humming along well into the third paragraph when I realized that I had reserved a cup of the pasta cooking water (as directed in paragraph 2) but had no clue where it went, as the recipe did not so indicate. Panicked, I threw it in with the cooked linguine, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Immediately it became clear that that was a mistake. I don't know where the pasta cooking water goes, but it does not go back in the pasta. [ed.: Actually, now that I've seen the online version of the recipe I do know: "some" should be added after the addition of the lemon oil to bring the pasta to the desired consistency.] I hastily drained some of it out, but flavor dilution was an obvious concern. With this in mind, I ate the pasta and was not wowed. My husband, aware of the pasta water disaster but somewhat removed from the situation, liked it fine. Flash forward to the next day, eating the pasta for lunch. The reasons for selecting the recipe came back to me: good warm or good cold, incorporates enough veggies to make this a one-dish meal and light enough for summertime.

I'm planning on trying it again-- maybe with frozen shrimp this time, so at least if it fails I won't have spent 30 minutes peeling and deveining.

8/12 update: made it again WITHOUT adding any pasta water and it was a success! The peppery taste of the arugula really popped against the lemon flavor.