This bright, silky lemon spaghetti proves quick pasta doesn’t have to be predictable

There are dishes that have become fashionable like memes become fashionable: suddenly they appear everywhere, are repeated, deformed and, when you want to realize it, they no longer mean exactly what they used to mean. Pasta al limone has been on this merry-go-round for years. In many recipes on the internet it is usually presented as spaghetti swimming in a silky, silky white sauce, based on cream and cheese and with a light zest on top to make it look like the lemon has passed through it. But the Italian recipe, the real one, the one made in southern homes and in trattorias where nobody talks about "citrus touches", has nothing postcard-like. It is simple but not easy. Only 4 ingredients, just enough to make us more demanding: lemon, fat, starch and a little bit of skill.

The lemon, in this story, is not a garnish. It is the center. We do not use a little squirt, at the end, "just because" as sometimes it is poured over a fish or a rice dish that has turned out to be bland. Here we work on its double side: the perfume of the skin and the electricity of the juice. And that lively acidity, that sharp freshness are lightly tamed with something as simple as effective: butter (or oil, depending on the family) and cooking water. It has starch, and starch, when mixed well with fat and acid, acts as a bridge: it emulsifies, binds and leaves the sauce silky, without the need for cream; it also adds body without being particularly heavy and keeps the pasta shiny and loose.

It is a simple pasta recipe with an immediate reward: a dish that smells of clean cooking, that tastes like summer even though it is February, and that is eaten with a rare joy, difficult to explain with adjectives. Lemon spaghetti: the minimum, well done. And then yes, buon appetito!