Easiest Lemon Pasta
I first made this pasta on a whim, based on what was available in my fridge and pantry. After all, lemon, cheese, pasta and butter are always available around here. What’s more, it’s ready in all of 15 minutes so perfect for when you’re in a hurry!
We loved it so much I decided to peruse the internet for similar recipes and made it again and again until I was even more please with the result than at that first attempt. It’s creamy, very lemony, fresh but decadent at the same time.
While I wouldn’t dare to claim I make this the “traditional” way - from all the online recipes I found some do not use cream, some do, some use pecorino instead of parmesan, needless to say I am not sure of what even is the original - one tip I found in Italian recipes is to boil the pasta in lemon infused water, which will impart even more delicate lemon flavour.
The garlic quantity is not huge but feel free to adjust according to your taste or even skip it altogether.
Let me know if you make it and if you liked it, don’t forget to subscribe!
Ingredients (serves 2)
150g spaghetti, tagliatelle or other long pasta (I used angel hair spaghetti which are very thin and cook even faster)
1 lemon, preferably organic, as we will be using the zest
100ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream or half and half
50g (1/2 stick) butter
1 clove of garlic, minced
50g parmesan or more, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Start by cooking your pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Juice and zest the lemon separately and add the two halves to the boiling water. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a large pan. Add lemon zest and garlic, cook until fragrant.
Add cream and mix well to emulsify. At this point add 1/3 of the cheese and mix well. Start adding a few tablespoons of pasta water to the sauce, to thin it.
Add another 1/3 of the cheese and some pasta water, mix again until you have a luscious sauce.
Season with salt and pepper (make sure to taste, parmesan is rather salty), add another squeeze of lemon juice if you’d like. Be generous with the freshly ground pepper.
When the pasta is cooked al dente, add it to your sauce. Mix well and add more pasta water if needed to loosen it.
Serve immediately with the remaining cheese on top. Enjoy and imagine yourself in the lemon groves of Amalfi.