Easy Lemon Pasta (so delicious!)
This Lemon Pasta is silky smooth, outrageously tasty and comes together in under 15mins. Plus it couldn't be easier to make!
Servings: 4
Cost: £1.50 / $2
Equipment
- Large Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Large Pot & Pasta Tongs
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Zester
- Finer Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 1lb / 500g Dried Spaghetti
- 6 tbsp / 90g / 3oz Butter, diced into cubes
- 1/3 cup / 30g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve
- 2 heaped tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley, plus more to serve
- 1 large Lemon, zest and juice
- 3 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper (see notes)
- Salt, as needed
Instructions
- Add spaghetti to a pot of heavily salted boiling water and cook un al dente. Don't drain the liquid when it's cooked, transfer the pasta straight from the pot to the pan. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water just before its cooked.
- Meanwhile melt butter into a pan over medium heat, then add garlic, lemon zest and black pepper. Fry for a couple of mins to cook the garlic, then pour in lemon juice and 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water. Whisk it to emulsify everything until it begins turning cloudy.
- Add in parmesan and continue to stir until it melts into the sauce. Transfer spaghetti straight from the pot into the pan and add parsley. Toss the pasta until the sauce thickens and wraps around the pasta. It should have a light creamy/glossy texture. Use more starchy pasta water to thin out as needed, or continue to toss and reduce the sauce if it's too watery.
- Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly, then serve with extra parmesan and parsley if desired!
Video
Notes
a) Starchy Pasta Water - Make sure the water is heavily salted otherwise it'll dilute the flavour of the sauce. Also make sure there's only just enough water to boil the water. You want it fairly shallow so it's as starchy as possible, meaning it makes the sauce nice and creamy. Ensure you scoop the water towards the end of the pasta cooking for it's at its starchiest.
b) Black Pepper - This is a simple recipe that relies on the perfect balance of flavours. To counteract the sour tones of the lemon, you've got salt from the pasta water and parmesan, but we also want to balance it all out with a touch of spice. This is where the black pepper comes in. I recommend using 1/4 tsp at the start, then adjust as needed towards the end.
c) Serving - I personally love this as it is, but you could add chicken, shrimp/prawns or even asparagus if you wanted! As it is, it'll make 4 large portions and 5 fair sized portions.
d) Calories - whole recipe divided by 4 with no extra parmesan/parsley:
Nutrition
Calories: 768kcal | Carbohydrates: 87.73g | Protein: 17.78g | Fat: 38.59g | Saturated Fat: 23.451g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.062g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9.735g | Trans Fat: 1.467g | Cholesterol: 99mg | Sodium: 432mg | Potassium: 314mg | Fiber: 3.8g | Sugar: 3.4g | Vitamin A: 1306IU | Vitamin C: 7.9mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 1.72mg