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Pasta al Limone Recipe

Pasta al Limone Recipe
  • Category

    Valentine's Day

  • Cusine

    American

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus fresh juice to taste and additional grated zest for serving

1 medium clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt

1 pound fresh spaghetti

1 ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat until foaming. Lower heat to low, add lemon zest and garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until just shy of al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water, then drain pasta. Add pasta to butter mixture, along with 1/2 cup reserved pasta water. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring and tossing to coat, until pasta is glazed in a satiny, emulsified sauce. Add grated cheese and toss and stir rapidly until sauce thickens; if it becomes too tight and dry at any time, add more pasta-cooking water to loosen it sufficiently. Add lemon juice to taste, starting with 1 tablespoon , then adding more until desired tartness is reached. Season with salt and pepper. Serve spaghetti right away, topping each serving with additional grated lemon zest and cheese.