Lemon pasta – pasta al limone (your future favorite dish!)

Name: Lemon pasta – pasta al limone (your future favorite dish!)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: En
Ingredients: 200 g linguine (or other long pasta); 1 lemon; 30 g butter; 80 g grated Parmesan; A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley; Salt; Pepper

Main Dish

Very Easy

23 min

652 Kcal

Today, we're heading to southern Italy, more precisely to Campania, to enjoy a sunny dish full of flavor: lemon pasta (or pasta al limone, with an Italian accent)! :-) This pasta dish will be ready in just a few minutes and requires only 5 ingredients. We used linguine, but you can certainly use spaghetti or other long pasta. You'll discover all our secrets for making an ultra-creamy, tangy sauce (without using cream, no less!) to impress your guests!

Ingredients

200 g linguine (or other long pasta)
1 lemon
30 g butter
80 g grated Parmesan
A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
Salt
Pepper

Materials

A large pot
A frying pan

Preparation

Preparation15 min

Cook time8 min

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, zest the entire lemon (avoiding the bitter white pith underneath) and squeeze out the juice.
When the water boils, add the linguine to the pot.
Melt the butter in a frying pan.
Add a ladleful of pasta water to the same pan to bind the sauce and create an emulsion.
Add the Parmesan to the sauce (save a little for serving), along with the lemon zest and juice.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce 2 minutes before the cooking time indicated on the package is up.
The pasta is ready when the sauce starts to become creamy.
Plate the pasta, add the chopped flat-leaf parsley and the remaining Parmesan, and enjoy!

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FAQ ❓

How much pasta should you allow per person?

Allow 100 g of pasta per person. It's easy to make larger quantities; you just need a very large pot.

Can you add crème fraîche to this recipe?

The traditional recipe doesn't call for cream, because the butter and starchy pasta water combine to make the sauce creamy. But if you'd like to make it even more indulgent, you can add 120 ml of whipping cream!

Can you replace the butter with olive oil?

Absolutely. The result will be less creamy than the original recipe, but just as delicious (use about 4 tablespoons of olive oil for two people).

What is the best way to cook pasta for a sauce?

If you plan to add your pasta to a sauce, it's best to cook it al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce, so you can avoid overcooking it.

How much salt exactly should you add?

For cooking dried pasta, the rule is simple: 10 g of salt per 1 litre of water!

What can you do with pasta water?

You can save a cup of pasta water to loosen the sauce and help it coat the pasta.
This water can also be used for cleaning! The salt and boiling water are very effective at loosening and cleaning stains.