Amalfi-Style Lemon Pasta (Pasta al Limone)
Recently while traveling through the Amalfi Coast, I discovered Pasta al Limone. A simple pasta dish celebrating the fragrance, sweetness, and tang of beautiful local lemons.
Buttery, citrusy, and fragrant, I knew I had to recreate this dish when I got back home and I'm excited to share the recipe with you! It only takes 3 ingredients and a couple of interesting cooking techniques :D
INGREDIENTS
2 lemons
250g linguini pasta
1/2 cup unsalted butter
Kosher salt to taste
Sliced lemon
Freshly chopped parsley
METHOD
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and season with salt so that it tastes like the sea. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the yellow zest of each lemon, and place the zest of 1 lemon in the boiling water, reserving the remaining peel for later. Allow to boil for 10 minutes to infuse the flavour.
Then add in pasta, and 2 minutes less than the suggested cook time on the package. We want the pasta to still be quite firm, because it will continue to cook in the sauce later. Remove one cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta in a colander.
To a large frying pan on medium heat add butter. Once the butter has melted, add in the remaining lemon peel, and saute for 15-20 seconds. Pour in the juice of 1 lemon, and season with salt to taste. Mix well to combine.
Add in the hot pasta, a little bit of the cooking water (⅓-½ cup), and mix to coat.
Serve with slices of lemon, and parsley to garnish. Enjoy!