Lemon spaghetti

A very refreshing lunch. Clean lemony taste, light and enjoyable. A nice surprise for your senses. And all in 10 minutes.

I've browsed through dozens of lemon spaghetti recipes this morning. I started with an Italian site...and I ended with an Italian site. For today. I'll try more in the future for sure, with Parmesan, eggs and so forth. But today...sweet cream and parsley.

I love this combination of lemon, pepper and pasta. It seems like there is sugar added, because the leading taste is sweet, or lemony sweet. There is butter and sweet cream to enrich the taste. No olive oil, not with this pasta.

The important thing, as always when cooking pasta, is not to overcook it. The pasta has to taste fresh and look alive, as if it would want to leave the plate. In this recipe, you shorten the recommended ( on the package) cooking time in salted water by 2-3 minutes, because you continue the process in lemon zest and butter for the remaining 2-3 minutes.

It's the best to use long smooth pasta, such as spaghetti or tagliatelle ( no tubes, no ridges). Spaghetti gets nice and sticky with sauce. Nothing will stay on your plate. 

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano

time: 10 min

ingredients

250 g (1/2 lb.) spaghetti

1 big lemon

40 g (about 3 Tablespoons) butter

1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped

30 ml (2 Tablespoons) sweet cream or more to taste

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

directions

Start by boiling the water for pasta. 
In a medium pot, using a fine grater, grate only the yellow part of the lemon skin. The white part will make the dish bitter. Add butter. Place the pot with zest and butter on top of the boiling water for the butter to melt and the lemon aroma to mix in.

Add salt and then spaghetti to the boiling water. Cook it for about 2-3 minutes shorter then required. Using a fork, transfer the cooked pasta with some cooking water to the pot with zest and butter. Place the pot on low heat, continue cooking for about 2 minutes , adding sweet cream. At the end of cooking, add the last touch of lemon zest, a couple of drops of lemon juice, chopped parsley and white pepper, freshly grated. Serve on a warm plate.