Lemon Pasta
Quick Recipes Simple Recipes Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipes Italian Pasta
Pasta al limone.
I promised this recipe to someone who tasted this pasta in Italy and couldn't get the same taste at home. I understand why. The ingredients are few, so everything depends on their quality and technique. To leave no room for errors, below I've listed all the elements to pay attention to before preparing this pasta. Read carefully, because if you follow them, the actual preparation of the pasta is the simplest step, and the result is a very good and balanced one, with clear aromas.
Important:
- choose egg pasta because they are more yellow and look great on the plate, they visually convey the idea of lemon better; if they're made with durum flour, this fine sauce will adhere better to them.
- use the best Parmigiano Reggiano you can find
- when choosing the lemon (preferably organic, with untreated peel), smell its peel; choose the most pleasantly fragrant one (you may have noticed when smelling lemons that some have no smell at all, others smell of mold or dust, others have a more floral smell); choose one that doesn't necessarily smell intense, but whose smell gives you pleasure
- lemons from here can be quite sour, that's why I use the sugar trick to bring them to a pleasant acidity; this way I can use any lemon in this recipe, without having to wait to find the lemon with perfect acidity
- at any moment the pasta seems dry or the sauce sticky, drizzle a little pasta water to thin the sauce.
Ingredients
250 g long egg pasta (preferably fettuccine, linguine or thin spaghetti)
45 g butter (80% fat)
30 g grated parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
zest from 1/2 medium lemon (1 teaspoon; more precisely 2 g)
juice from 1/2 medium lemon (more precisely 30 ml)
sugar (optional)
1/4 bunch parsley
salt, black pepper
Servings: 2-3
How to prepare lemon pasta
- Put a pot with plenty of water to boil. Add salt and taste it to be as salty as sea water. When the water boils, add the pasta, reduce heat to medium and cook according to package instructions (until the pasta is al dente).
- Finely grate the zest from 1/2 lemon. Squeeze the juice from 1/2. Taste the juice. If it's very sour (makes your mouth pucker) start gradually adding sugar (a pinch at a time). Stir and taste again. Add sugar until the juice is pleasantly tart (don't make it sweet like lemonade, but it shouldn't make your mouth pucker anymore).
- Prepare the rest of the ingredients, because you'll work quickly in the next steps: weigh the butter, grate the parmesan and finely chop the parsley. Place a wide pan (25-30 cm diameter) on the stove and heat the pan on low heat. The goal is for the pan not to be cold when you add the pasta.
- When the pasta is cooked, reserve 150 ml of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
- Put the pasta and half of the reserved water in the warm pan (keep the heat on low under it). Add the butter pieces and lemon zest on top. Stir with 2 spoons until the butter is melted and the pasta becomes glossy. During this time, grind black pepper on top (quite a lot, it's good in combination with lemon).
- Then add the parmesan and parsley and stir again. If it seems like the pasta is getting dry, add a little more water.
- Add the lemon juice and stir well until the pasta is coated with a fine layer of creamy sauce. If the pasta seems dry, add a little more water. Check if it needs more salt (the pasta water and parmesan are salty).
- Serve the pasta immediately drizzled with a little olive oil.
Boiling the pasta
Adding butter and lemon zest over the pasta
Adding Parmesan and chopped parsley
