Creamy Lemon Pasta
CREAMY LEMON PASTA
You know those nights when you need something quick and easy, but nice, but your pantry is also looking pretty bare? This creamy lemon pasta is just the answer you’re looking for. While it isn’t exactly a traditional lemon pasta, or pasta a limone, as it’s properly called, it’s still a pasta dish that never fails to disappoint. It’s creamy and rich yet simultaneously bright and balanced thanks to the copious amounts of lemon involved. And while it’s decadent enough to serve for date night or special meals at home, it’s also simple enough to make for weeknight dinner anytime of the week. And good enough that you’ll want to eat it straight from the pan (Don’t tell the nonna’s out there!).
Similarly to dishes like cacio pepe, it only requires a handful of ingredients (7 to be exact for this creamy lemon pasta) and a mere 15 minutes from pot to plate.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE CREAMY LEMON PASTA
It’s not about quantity here, it’s about quality. Because there are so few ingredients, each one really needs to count so make sure you get the highest quality you can ingredients you can.
PASTA- spaghetti is traditional but I prefer bucatini or mafaldini, but really any pasta of your choosing will work; however, I must note that long noodles do work best for forming and holding optimal amounts of sauce
LEMONS- Our pasta namesake and star of the show for all the zesty, brightness that comes through in this dish
BUTTER- To make the sauce thick and glossy
OLIVE OIL- For cooking and added flavor; I prefer a mix of olive and butter in the overall flavor profile, and the way the butter thickens the sauce, however, some people prefer just butter. You do you baby!
HEAVY CREAM-Some people prefer their pasta a limone sauce to be made creamy purely from the starchy pasta cooking water. However, I like to go for ultimate creaminess, so around here, we add cream.
PARMESEAN CHEESE- Don’t skimp, get the real deal and grate it yourself. Trust me, you’ll taste the difference.
SALT- I like to use coarse to salt the pasta cooking water, and flaky or kosher salt to season the final dish.
GARLIC POWDER- Garlic isn’t always considered traditional in pasta a limone, but garlic powder?! Well that’s a real hard cross over the traditional boundary line. But here’s how I ended up here, in Italian no-mans land of ingredients you should never use in “real” Italian cooking. I personally love the way garlic tastes in lemon pasta, but when I was dealing with digestive issues, I couldn’t handle garlic, but garlic powder didn’t bother me. So I started using that in place of garlic in a lot of dishes, including this pasta recipe. And to my shock (and Italian horror), I…actually kind of liked it??! Better??! I know, I don’t even know who I am saying that. But here’s why I like it better than actually fresh garlic. First, it blends into the rest of the sauce seamlessly. With fresh garlic, there end up being pieces, which honestly doesn’t quite fit the vibe of the sauce. This sauce is supposed to be completely smooth and creamy, let’s keep it that way. Secondly, while I love the garlic flavor in this sauce, sometimes fresh garlic can be a bit strong and overpowering. Garlic powder allows me to still get the flavor but in a way that is more of a subtle compliment to the lemon flavor versus super overpowering and stealing the show. So that’s why I use garlic powder. You can choose to use it or lose it, or use a few minced cloves of garlic instead. Totally up to you!
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY LEMON PASTA
Like so most great Italian pasta dishes, this one doesn’t require much. Simplicity with Italian cooking is always key. Essentially there are two main steps here.
STEP 1- Cook the pasta. Just until a minute before it’s al dente, absolutely nothing more. It’ll finish cooking as you toss it with the sauce ingredients. Also, heavily salted water (salty like the ocean please and thank you) is key to ensuring that the pasta water helps our sauce become thick and flavorful. I find coarse salt works best for this.
STEP 2- Make the sauce. Which is essentially just tossing everything also with the pasta until it comes together in a nice glossy creamy dreamy mixture. It takes mere minutes, just be sure to be gentle when tossing the pasta so as not to break it and to ensure even sauce distribution.
LET’S TALK ABOUT EXTRAS
GARNISHES- Not totally necessary, but they definitely take this already incredible dish to a whole other level. A few favorite garnishes to top this dish with include additional lemon zest, grated parmesan cheese, fresh ground black pepper, sea salt flakes, red pepper flakes (if you want a little extra kick) and chopped fresh parsley or basil (fresh only, never dried). Personally, I like to add all of them, heavy on the zest, extra parm and black pepper, with parsley being my herb of choice (it just works so nicely with the lemon).
PROTEIN- The nice thing about a simple dish is it’s just that, simple. But if you want a little something extra with your pasta, say like a protein, this tastes great with grilled chicken or shrimp added on top.
HOW TO STORE AND RE-HEAT LEMON PASTA
Look, I’m gonna be real with you. You probably aren’t going to have any leftovers (yes, this pasta is that good). And honestly, you really don’t want to have any leftovers. This pasta is truly best served fresh and I’m really not a fan of it next day. But if somehow you happen to have leftovers here’s what you need to know-
HOW TO STORE- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
HOW TO REHEAT- Reheat in a skillet over low heat. I like to add a splash of water (chicken broth or white wine work too) and heavy cream to help the sauce reform, then finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH LEMON PASTA
PROTEINS- Grilled lemon herb chicken, a lemony mild white fish, grilled shrimp are all great options
VEGETABLES- I love how this pairs with zucchini, but corn is also nice as are grilled vegetables.
SALADS- My favorite salad to pair with this lemon pasta with is a simple arugula salad with olive oil, lemon juice or red wine vinegar, some toasted walnuts, parm shavings, salt and pepper, but any fresh green salad, such as this one, will work great with this dish.
CREAMY LEMON PASTA
SERVES 4-6
INGREDIENTS
1 pound pasta of choice (I like to use bucatini or malfadini)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 teaspoons garlic powder
Zest and juice of 4 medium-large lemons
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
For serving (any, all or none are optional)- additional lemon zest, grated parmesan cheese, fresh ground black pepper, sea salt flakes, red pepper flakes (if you want a little extra kick), chopped fresh (never dried) parsley or basil
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of heavily salted (like the sea!) water to a boil over high heat. Cook pasta according to package directions, but finish it 1 minute before it’s al dente (it’ll finish cooking in the sauce). Drain, being sure to reserve about 2 cups of pasta water. Set aside.
In a large skillet set over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with the olive oil. Whisk in the garlic powder until evenly combined, then stir in the lemon zest. Add the pasta, lemon juice, cream and begin tossing the pasta to coat. Alternate adding in some of the grated parmesan cheese along with a little of the reserved pasta water, continuing to gently toss and coat the pasta as a sauce forms. I don’t like to do a ton of pasta water, and I only add a little bit at a time, as a prefer a thicker sauce, but feel free to add more water if you want a thinner sauce.
Add in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and continue to gently toss the pasta until the butter has melted in and helped the sauce to form into a thick and glossy mixture.
Serve with your desired toppings- extra lemon zest, more grated parm, flaky salt, some chopped fresh parsley or basil, fresh ground black pepper and/or even a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little kick.
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