Lemon pasta

Name: Lemon pasta
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 50 g Butter; 2 u Lemon; Salt; Black pepper; 60 g Parmesan; 360 g Spaghetti

Pasta al limón

Easy

Contains allergens

LecheCereales con gluten

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 23 min
Servings: 4

Summary

Pasta al limone from the Amalfi Coast: lemon zest and juice, butter and Parmesan brought together with the pasta water into a creamy, fresh sauce. It is ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta.

Ingredients

4 servings

50 g Butter (cold, diced)
2 u Lemon (unwaxed, you need the zest of both and juice to taste)
Salt (for the pasta water)
Black pepper (freshly ground, to taste)
60 g Parmesan (finely grated)
360 g Spaghetti (or linguine)

Instructions

Bring about 3 litres of salted water to the boil in a medium pot: with less water than usual, the cooking water will be richer in starch. Meanwhile, wash the lemons, zest both and juice one.
10 min
Cook the spaghetti for two minutes less than the packet says.
8 min
With a couple of minutes to go, melt a third of the butter in a large frying pan over low heat with most of the zest, just until fragrant, without letting it colour.
1 min
Lift the pasta into the pan with tongs, without draining it completely, and add a ladle of the cooking water (about 150 ml). Finish cooking over medium heat, stirring, until al dente and the water has reduced to a cloudy, thick liquid.
2 min
Take the pan off the heat. Add the rest of the butter, the lemon juice and the Parmesan a handful at a time, tossing the pasta vigorously until everything comes together in a creamy, glossy sauce. If it is too thick, add another splash of water; taste and add more juice if you like it sharper.
2 min
Serve at once with freshly ground black pepper and the rest of the zest scattered over.

Notes

The dish comes from around Sorrento and Amalfi, where lemons are large, fragrant and not very sharp; with ordinary lemons, start with the juice of one and add more at the end if it needs it. Zest only the yellow part of the peel, as the white pith is bitter. Use unwaxed lemons or scrub them well under hot water. The creaminess doesn't come from cream but from the starch in the pasta water emulsified with the fat and cheese, which is why it pays to cook the pasta in less water than usual and finish it in the pan. The juice goes in off the heat so it stays fresh. If you'd rather not use butter, swap it for 4 tablespoons of mild extra virgin olive oil; the result is lighter and a little less creamy. Real Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian version use a hard cheese made with vegetable rennet. A few basil leaves or a little pink pepper work very well. It is at its best straight away; leftovers can be reheated the next day in a frying pan with a splash of water.