Lemon Marinate Pasta
One blond lady from Praiano one day though me how to use lemons in many ways and this is one of the most delicious one! Thank you Enza!
400 g pasta: linguine are perfect as well as fettuccine and spaghetti will be lovely!
2 Sfusato lemons: zest and juice
4 cloves garlic
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
125 g Parmesan cheese, grated
8 table spoons of pasta boiling water
sea salt
1 large bunch fresh chopped basil, thyme, parsley and any other kind of fresh herbs
For the marinate:
Choose a large bowl that you already know it will look nice to serve on your table.
Wash lemons, zest and squize them in the bowl, then stir in the chopped garlic, chopped basil and other herbs and olive oil. Mix all the ingredients.
Add Parmesan and mix. When the pasta in half done, take some of the boiling water, cool it a little and whisk in the bowl. The pasta starch will help Parmesan to get creamy and the non boiling water will help to mantain the fresh green herbs color and will induce the lemon skin to release the parfuming essence.
A boiling water will drastically chance the chemical structure both of herbs and lemons and your ingredients will look “tired”.
Cook pasta according to package directions or “al dente”. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water, just in case the sauce will result too thick.
Add the linguine to the lemon marinate and stir.
Keep in mind that while you are stirring, pasta will continue to cook, so remember how much al dente you wish your pasta!
Just a little Parmesan, good olive oil, juice and zest is all it takes to create lovely lemony pasta.
SUGGESTION: if you like a little flavour more, use also Pecorino cheese togheter with Parmisan.
SUGGESTION: when you have time, make your own pasta out of the scratch. Look for my Scialatielli Recipe.
NOTE: to cook “pasta al dente”, always remember to cook it 30% time less then the package label says.
