Not your average pasta salad.

I recently celebrated a friend's birthday dinner at Floriana in Dupont Circle. As you may remember, our little group rarely dines Italian -- she picked the restaurant for its rustic-yet-elegant vibe, and we couldn't have asked for better atmosphere on the patio that evening: it was one of those perfect late spring D.C. nights where the sun was just setting so the air was still warm, but the summer humidity was still at bay.

As much as I enjoyed the dinner special which half the table ordered (fontina-stuffed meatballs in a fresh pomodoro sauce over pasta), our complimentary birthday desserts, and the fizzy prosecco cocktails, my favorite dish was a truly simple salad: arugula tossed with lemon and olive oil, with shaved Parmesan. The spicy bite of arugula and creamy cheese (with my favorite little salt crystals) balanced perfectly with the bright lemon. I love arugula as a green because it has body and flavor on its own. It stands up in salads but also wilts beautifully over pasta or pizza.

A few weeks later, D.C. has hit full-blown summer heat and humidity. Feeling too hot and lazy to fire up the stove for heavy-duty cooking, I decided to make a pasta dinner inspired by my refreshing salad from Floriana. Fortunately, Smitten Kitchen had a great recipe seemingly tailor-made for the occasion. The cream, cheese, and olive oil did their smoothing act on the spiky arugula and citrus flavors, just as I had remembered.

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Spaghetti al Limone
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Serves 2

1/3 lb spaghetti
Salt
2 lemons (depending on the size of your lemons - add to taste, 1 T at a time)
2 T extra virgin olive oil (I added a dash of lemon-infused olive oil for a boost)
2-3 T heavy cream
1 oz finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 c), plus additional for serving
Ground black pepper
Generous handful arugula
Cook pasta in well-salted water until al dente. While pasta is cooking, zest and juice both lemons — you’ll have about 2 T of zest and anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 c lemon juice.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 c of the cooking water. Dry out your pot, then boil the olive oil, cream, zest and 1/4 c of the reserved pasta water together for two minutes over high heat. Return pasta to pot and stir until coated. Add the cheese and lemon juice and toss well. Add more pasta water, a drizzle at a time, if you’d like your dish a little looser. Stir in arugula and season generously with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately -- this isn't one for leftovers.