Skills you will learn in this recipe
Making an emulsified butter sauce with pasta water; quickly de-seeding tomatoes
Links to the last recipe
Thickening a sauce with butter; flavouring with chilli, lemon, garlic & tomato
This pasta with lemon recipe is so simple but so delicious, and you can adapt it to your taste and budget. Cooking for friends? Add a bit more cheese, lemon and butter for a luxurious-feeling treat. Making a quick supper for yourself? Pare it right back – it works just as well (and is probably closer to its Southern Italian roots) with just a little cheese, a hint of chilli, one large tomato, and a little lemon and basil to brighten it.
Today we made quite a rich version, as the meal was designed as a comfort treat for Estella after a tough GCSE exam! But we also like the pared-back version, which is perhaps also more elegant, if less indulgent.
Any pasta you like will work in this dish – the sauce coats most shapes easily. We think it is nicest with long, thin pastas – today we used linguine, a favourite of ours, but spaghetti, bucatini, and fettucine are also good options. But use whatever you have in your store cupboard.
You can also play around with the spice level. We like our pasta with lemon quite punchy and spicy, but it is just as good, if slightly different, with just one or even half of one red chilli.
Start by finely chopping the garlic & chillies – see our chopping Tip. These will go into the dish at the same time, so you can chop them together if you like, and certainly keep them in the same bowl while you finish your prep. Today we used three large, slightly milder red chillies, and four cloves of garlic. But less is fine for a more subtle kick of garlic & heat.
Now zest & juice one lemon – see our lemon Tip. You’ll also need one or two more lemons for the next stage.
The recipe unusually features small pieces of whole lemon, with the skin still on. This makes the finished dish super-lemony, with a slight hint of bitterness. How many you add depends on personal taste. Today we wanted it very lemony, so we added two more lemons, meaning our dish for three people used three lemons in total. Our portion size today was very generous however – the dish could easily have served four people. But using two lemons in total, one zested & juiced, and one chopped, would still make it quite lemony – even in a dish for four – if you prefer.
The idea is that you can eat the lemon pieces in the finished dish if you want to, though we suspect most people (like us) will want to eat round them, or only eat a few. But it’s important, both for maximum flavour and to make the pieces edible, to cut the lemons into small pieces, about 1cm across. And they must be unwaxed lemons.
First slice the lemon(s) into quarters down the length. Remove any obvious pips, and cut off any visible stem or very pithy parts from the ends.
Now cut the lemon segments into small, bite-sized pieces.
Next prepare the tomatoes. Any tomatoes will work, though ideally you want them firm and not too ripe. Today we used a handful of cherry tomatoes. A few larger ones, or even one very big beef tomato, would also work.
Cut the tomatoes in half, and remove the stem bed and any white pith. Ideally for this dish you would also remove the seeds (as we did for the Trapanese Pesto). But this is time-consuming and fiddly, especially for small tomatoes. So for this simple supper dish, we used a little tip instead (see next step). Dry the cut tomatoes with some kitchen paper. Ours today, despite being a firmer variety (pomodorino), were a little riper than we would have liked, so we had to dry them extra well.
The very act of drying the tomatoes on paper will remove some seeds, as you can see below. Chop the tomato halves into small, bite-sized pieces and dry with paper again. This will remove more seeds. Finally, pick the pieces up in small sections and drop into a bowl, leaving as many seeds behind on the board as you can. Discard the seeds.
Next grate some parmesan. You can use a little or a lot, depending on how rich you want your dish. Today we grated enough for two or three handfuls, with a little extra in case people wanted to add more.
We use a drum grater, but a box grater is just as good. Today we grated on a slightly coarser blade than we normally would for parmesan. This gives more texture. You could grate it even coarser if you like.
Jake sticks his nose in
If you grate the parmesan fine, it will melt fully into the dish. If you grate it medium, it will still melt, but with a little more texture. Grate it coarsely, and strands of parmesan will remain. All three finishes are nice – it depends what effect you like. Today we wanted some melt & some texture, so we went for medium.
Your mise en place is ready! You are ready to cook the pasta with lemon. Or if you are planning ahead, you can now store your prepped items in the fridge, covered, until just before you serve.
Once you are ready to cook, there is little to do apart from boil the pasta and add the sauce ingredients to a pan. However, you will need to time things carefully, and work fast at the end. The total cook time will not be that much more than the cooking time for the pasta itself, allowing time for the water to boil first.
Put a little cold water into a large saucepan or pasta pan and set over a high heat. Season generously with salt. While this water is heating, boil a kettle, and add the boiled water to the pan.
Bring the water to a rolling boil, then add the pasta – pushing it down gently into the water as it softens if using a long shape. Stir well to prevent it clumping together. We measure pasta by eye, but about 100g per person is a good portion to aim for. Make sure there is plenty of water in the pan, and that it stays boiling over a high heat.
Jake sticks his nose in
We like to use a pasta pan, which is a very large saucepan with an internal colander. But any really big saucepan will do – just make sure it’s large enough to fit your pasta plus a lot of water, otherwise your pasta will clump and go gluey. You’ll also need a colander or large sieve to drain it.
Most pastas have two cooking times, ours today was 11-13 minutes. Cook yours for the shorter of the two times, but we will also test it just before this. The pasta will cook for a little longer in the sauce at the end, so you don’t want it too soft when it comes out of the pan.
We’ve given lots of tips for cooking pasta, especially long pasta, in our previous recipes in our Cookery Course. Check them out if you want a refresher or to learn more! See links below
While the pasta is cooking, rip up some basil. Don’t chop basil with scissors (as we do for many herbs), it will go soggy and black. Ripping it is best. Remove some of the stem, and tear the leaves into medium-large pieces.
Jake sticks his nose in
Don’t be tempted to rip the basil up too soon, e.g., don’t do it as part of your mise en place. You should rip it just before serving – basil will start to deteriorate quickly once ripped, and is nicest added while it is still fragrant and fresh. You may wonder why we rip it at all – but breaking the leaves releases the oils, and makes the basil more pungent.
About five minutes before your pasta cooking time is up, add a generous slug of olive oil to a large frying pan, and set over a medium heat.
Meanwhile, cut a slice of butter and chop into smaller pieces. How much you use will depend on how rich (or not) you want your sauce, and also how much parmesan you add. Today we used about 40g butter, which creates a very glossy, rich, buttery sauce. But 20g would be enough for a four-person serving that is still buttery, but lighter. Set aside.
When the oil in the pan is warm, add the chopped garlic & chillies, and stir well until just softened, about a minute or so. Once done, turn the heat right down or draw off the heat until you are ready to add the pasta.
About a minute before the lower of the two pasta cooking times, test a piece for done-ness. The pasta is ready when it still retains some bite, but isn’t hard or chalky. Cook a little longer if needed. Drain when done, in a colander or large sieve, reserving some of the pasta water (so don’t drain it all into the sink!).
Return the frying pan to a medium heat and add the pasta to the chilli and garlic, stirring well to combine.
To loosen & eventually emulsify the final sauce, and to prevent the pasta from sticking, quickly add some of the pasta water to the pasta in the frying pan. Also add the lemon juice. How much pasta water you add is a judgement call – you want the pasta loose but not wet, about 3 to 4 large spoonfuls. Keep stirring – you may find it easier to stir with a pasta server.
Now add the chopped tomatoes, lemon zest, lemon segments and basil, stirring all the time to combine well. For long pasta it is often easiest to lift the pasta up and over with tongs, a large fork or a pasta server.
Work fast! These ingredients only need a few minutes to cook. Add more pasta water if the sauce seems too dry or the pasta sticks.
Finally add a few large handfuls of parmesan, and the butter. Stir until the butter is melted and the sauce emulsifies. Season with salt & pepper, to taste. We used salted butter, and there is salt in the pasta, so we didn’t add much. You are ready to serve!
Serve the pasta with lemon immediately, making sure you allocate the sauce fairly – the larger pieces will try to stay on the bottom of the pan!
Jake sticks his nose in
Remember the lemon pieces can be eaten, but they are quite bitter. So you way may well want to eat round them, or just try a few, as we do!
Allow each person to add more parmesan on top if they like. Today our pasta with lemon was quite cheesy and rich so Emily preferred it without, but Estella added more!
Enjoy!
Perfect Pasta with Lemon & Basil
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Chop the garlic & chillies, quite finely. See our chopping Tip. You can chop them together if you wish as they will be added to the dish at the same time.
- Zest & juice one of the lemons, cutting the zest finer. See our lemon Tip. Chop the other two lemons into quarters, lengthwise, and remove any stalk or large sections of white pith from the ends. Chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut the tomatoes in half, and remove any stem bed or white pith. Remove the seeds if you wish OR dry on some kitchen paper which will take some seeds out. Chop into medium pieces. Dry again with some kitchen paper, then place in a bowl, leaving any seeds on the board behind.
- Grate the parmesan. You need enough to add two or three handfuls to the sauce, plus a littler extra for serving, if liked. We grate it medium – finer will make the parmesan melt into the sauce more; coarser will keep strands of it whole. Choose which you prefer!
- About 20 to 25 minutes before you are ready to serve, place a kettle on to boil and put some cold water into a pasta pan or large saucepan. Place the pan over a high heat, add salt, then add the boiled water. Bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta, pushing it gently down into the water if using a long shape. See Tips in our post above for cooking pasta. Cook for the shorter of the two times on the packet, testing for done-ness about a minute before this by biting into a strand. For this dish you want the pasta still firm, but without any hardness or chalkiness in the middle.
- While waiting for the pasta, rip the basil. Do not do this too early and do not cut with scissors or the basil will blacken. Measure out the butter. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat, and add a good glug of olive oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the chillies & garlic, stirring, until just softened, about a minute or so. Pull the pan off the heat.
- When the pasta is done, drain, retaining some of the cooking water, and place in the frying pan with the garlic & chillies. Return the heat to medium. Working quickly, and stirring constantly, add a few large spoons of the pasta water, plus the lemon juice. Add more water if the pasta sticks or the sauce seems too dry.
- Add the lemon zest, chopped tomatoes, and chopped lemons and stir well to combine. This may be easier using a pasta server.
- Add the basil, a few handfuls of the parmesan (retaining some to serve, if liked) plus the butter. Season well with pepper, and a little salt. Stir well until the butter melts and the sauce emulsifies. You can add more water if the sauce is too thick.
- Serve immediately, making sure you distribute the sauce elements evenly – they tend to clump at the bottom. Top with more parmesan if you like, though it is quite cheesy already.
- Enjoy!