you're making mealtime meaningful.
Sometimes the simplest pasta recipes can be the best ones. Take spaghetti aglio e olio or carbonara for instance. These dishes don’t rely on hours of cooking time or long lists of ingredients to make a tasty dinner. Instead these quick dishes use some of the starchy pasta water to form a sauce rapidly and that’s what we’re doing today with this pasta al limone.
If you think that the flavors of lemon and cream only go together in sweet dishes then prepare to have your socks knocked off because they are a fabulous combination in this recipe. To enjoy this dish first boil any long pasta to al dente, then reserve a cup of the pasta water. Do not skip this step as you will need it for the sauce.
You can use linguini, thin or thick spaghetti, or angel hair. I really love the bite of thick spaghetti for this recipe as there’s no meat or veggies to mix up the texture here.
Then add some lemon zest to heavy cream and simmer it together. This creates a citrus-infused cream that will scent your whole kitchen. It’s really lovely.
Then add the pasta and pasta water to the pan and toss. You’ll see that a wonderful sauce forms. While it won’t be super thick like Alfredo sauce, it does thicken up more than you might expect from a sauce with no flour or cornstarch in it.
The final touches to this recipe include adding some lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and some parsley and/or basil to the pasta. When taken altogether the flavor is outstanding and very fresh. Throw in some cooked cauliflower, chicken, or broccoli and you have a whole meal. But, I personally love it just as the recipe is written.
This tasty dish only takes about 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish. I love saving time while simultaneously getting to eat yummy food and for those reasons this pasta al limone is a win-win recipe.
Pasta al Limone
Yield(s): Serves 8
16m prep time
16m cook time
Diet: Vegetarian
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 16 oz spaghetti or other long pasta
- kosher salt
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup finely grated Parmesan
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped basil leaves
Preparation
- Cut long strips from lemon and reserve. Zest remaining lemon. Cut in half and juice. Boil pasta in generously salted water. Cook to al dente. Drain and return to pan with some olive oil, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
- In another large pan heat lemon zest with cream over medium heat, whisking often until simmering. Whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time until fully combined. Add pasta to pan along with 3/4 cup pasta water. Toss to combine and add 1-3 more tablespoons pasta water if sauce seems too thick. Cook on medium until sauce is slightly thickened and pasta is fully cooked, about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add in lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and cheese. Toss to combine and serve with lemon strips and basil on top.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.