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!
