Twenty-minute lemon pasta
The trick is starchy pasta water and cold butter, whisked off the heat until the sauce goes glossy. If your sauce looks broken, add a splash of water and keep whisking — it always comes back.
Ingredients
- 400 g spaghetti or linguine
- 2 lemons — zest of both, juice of one and a half
- 60 g cold butter, cubed
- 60 g parmesan, finely grated, plus more to serve
- A big handful of black pepper
- Salt, for the pasta water
Method
- Boil the pasta in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Save two cups of pasta water before draining.
- In the warm pan, whisk lemon zest, juice, cold butter, parmesan, and pepper with a ladle of pasta water over low heat.
- Add the drained pasta and toss hard, adding pasta water a splash at a time, until the sauce clings and shines.
- Taste for salt and lemon. Serve immediately with more parmesan — the sauce waits for no one.
Jill's note: Leftovers thicken in the fridge. Reheat with a spoonful of water and it tastes almost new.
