Recipe: Lemon Linguine
Lemon Linguine or classic Italian linguine al limone is one of the easiest, most flavourful pasta dish that comes together in 10 minutes. All you need is some pasta, lemon, good quality parmesan cheese, salt, garlic and a bit of pepper. Add herbs of your choice. Don’t want to add heavy cream then go for some milk. And a quick, delicious, summery pasta dish is ready in no time.
Pasta with lemon sauce is one of my favourite ways to enjoy pasta. Frankly, I am a big fan of pasta and therefore it is on the menu at least once a week if not more. I like to try out different flavours and sauces for my pasta dish.
Memories
The first time I came across Lemon Linguine was on the Jamie Oliver Show. Now that was some years back when I was in Kenya. Wanting to try out this simple but different pasta dish, I went ahead and used spaghetti as I couldn’t find linguine. Back then the only lemons available in Kenya were the Indian lemons which tend to be more acidic than the usual Eureka or Lisbon which is commonly available in the market in the western world. I used Indian lemon and the pasta turned out too sour. Hubby didn’t have much. Next day had to add creamy white sauce and more pasta to lessen the sourness.
During my trip to Italy, we stayed in Positano for a night. We went to a restaurant and I ordered lemon linguine. The owner/chef informed us that he had used the best limone and that is the Sorrento variety. The pasta was super delicious and the fragrance of the lemon, heavenly. Whenever I got my hands on the Eureka variety from South Africa I would make pasta with lemon sauce.
Sharing This Recipe With Sunday Funday
For this Sunday I suggested that the members of this awesome group use Lemon or Lime in their recipe. As for me, I am sharing Lemon Linguine.
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Mayuri’s Jikoni: Lemon Linguine
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Sneha’s Recipe: No Oil Less Salt Lime Pickle
Some Lemon Recipes That You May Want To Check Out
Try out Lemon Pickle. This recipe does not require you to keep the lemon in the sun.
Ingredients Required For Lemon Linguine
Pasta – use linguine, fettuccine, bucatini, spaghetti or any long pasta. Cook the pasta as per the instruction on the packet.
Water – enough to boil the pasta in.
Butter – use butter only or mix butter and olive oil.
Olive Oil – I used a bit of olive and a bit of butter.
Lemon – use the less acidic variety like Eureka, Sorrento, Lisbon, Bears, Meyer.
Lemon Zest – or lemon peel, grated. I find it is easily to peel the lemon with a peeler. And then I process it in a food processor. Any extra zest, can easily be frozen in an airtight container to use in salads, salad dressings, bakes, desserts, smoothies, etc.
Garlic – this recipe calls for a bit more garlic than usual.
Fresh Herb – any of your choice like basil, oregano, parsley. I have used parsley.
Fresh Cream – double or whipping cream is best. You can use half and half if you want to.
Parmesan – buy the best quality possible. Usually the ones that need to be grated at home are more flavourful than the parmesan that is already grated. Need some to add to the lemon sauce and extra for topping.
Salt – need some to add to the boiling pasta. Also may need a bit more when you prepare the pasta with the lemon sauce.
Black Pepper – coarsely ground. Add according to your taste.
Watch How To Make Lemon Linguine
LEMON LINGUINE
Ingredients
- 250 g linguine
- 2-3 litre water
- 2½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp parmesan grated
- 2 tbsp lemon juice fresh
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 4-6 cloves garlic peeled and chopped or sliced
- ½ cup fresh cream
- 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- extra parmesan for topping
Instructions
BOIL THE PASTA
- Add water in a pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat.
- When the water begins to boil, add 2 tsp salt and the pasta.
- Give it a stir so that the pasta does not stick to each other.
- Allow the pasta to cook as per the instructions on the packet. Mine was al dente in 8 minutes.
- Drain out the water. Keep the pasta on the side till required. It is a good idea to leave a bit of pasta water on the side in case you need some for the sauce.
PREPARE THE LEMON SAUCE
- Heat butter and olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat.
- Add garlic. Sauté for a minute or two.
- Add lemon zest and sauté for a minute.
- Add chopped parsley and give it a good stir.
- Add the cream and mix till it gets a bit hot.
- Add the grated parmesan and mix well. It will melt a bit and sauce will become a bit thick.
- Add the boiled pasta, lemon juice and remaining salt (½ tsp) if need be.
- Add coarsely ground pepper.
- Mix the pasta and sauce. Allow the pasta to become a bit hot.
- If you find the pasta too dry add 1-2 tbsp of the pasta water.
- Serve immediately with some extra grated parmesan on top.
Notes
- While the pasta is boiling, get the lemon sauce ready.
- Use any kind of pasta you have in the pantry.
- Don't be tempted to add more lemon juice. You want the subtle flavours of all ingredients to come through.
- Use any fresh herb of your choice, like basil, oregano.
- Use half and half instead of double or whipping cream.
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A Little Request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
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- or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962