Pure sun on the plate
In July there are still delicious natural lemons. Perfect for a pasta al limone. Savor it, because doesn’t every summer go by too fast?
Summer lightness
Pasta with a quick sauce of natural lemons brings lightness to this not so light summer. No matter where you spend the summer, with Pasta al Limone your table is in the lemon grove.
Excellent natural lemons are still available in Europe until the end of July. Use the beguiling aroma of citrus for a simple pasta dish that goes with summer like lemonade and sunglasses.
We had already reported in detail about natural lemons – you surely always have a small supply at home.
To do this, you only need a large piece of parmesan from the Cheesemonger of your choice, a good olive oil and fresh basil leaves. Basta.
This is how it works:
Over the pot in which your pasta is cooking, briefly place a pan and add plenty of olive oil. A short, slight heating of the oil is enough, because the lemon sauce is more like a pasta dressing.
Then put the pan on the side and add in the slightly warmed olive oil:
- plenty of freshly grated parmesan
- A small pinch of Maldon salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Juice of natural lemon
- Grated lemon peel
- Basil leaves
Stir the mixture and keep at lukewarm temperature. To make the sauce a little creamier, add 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking water of the pasta and a small piece of butter. Done.
Add the cooked pasta to the pan, mix and serve immediately on preheated plates. Grate some lemon zest on each pasta portion again, shave plenty of Parmesan on top and sprinkle with small basil leaves. Finally, pepper again from the pepper mill. Done.
A light, very digestible summer dish that can be prepared in a short time and tastes best in the open air.
But there is lemon oil
Yes, there is and we have tried several brands that have been highly touted to us. No lemon oil manages to replace the complex, slightly sweet aroma of a natural lemon, preferably from the Amalfi Coast or Menton.
The dish, like so many simple dishes, lives on the quality of the ingredients.
What kind of pasta goes with it?
This quick dish goes well with a fresh pasta, which usually requires a very short cooking time of just a few minutes.
To have everything at hand in the short cooking time of the fresh pasta, it is best to start with the grating of the Parmesan cheese and the grating of the natural lemon zest.
We like pasta al limone best with linguine, spaghettini or fettuccine. These three types of pasta have the ideal shape for this pasta dish.
The Inspiration comes from a GloriousMe favorite restaurant
Pasta al Limone is a classic that you nevertheless don’t get served in restaurants too often. It takes only a few minutes to prepare, but it must be done à la minute and can not be prepared.
It is worth adding the dish to your own kitchen repertoire.
We met Pasta al Limone at the wonderful River Café in London, the restaurant where we would celebrate any success or defeat at any time.
The two founders, Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, who died at an early age, showed Italian cuisine at its best with their restaurant in England: simple dishes with the best ingredients.
With this formula and love of Italian food, they have managed to keep the restaurant, near the Thames in Fulham/Hammersmith, at a high level for years.
Jamie Oliver earned his first spurs here and all the guests we know not only appreciate this restaurant, they love it.
What else is needed?
Some white bread helps to absorb the last of the delicious lemon sauce from the plate.
Otherwise, all it needs is good company and a slightly chilled red wine, for example a Nebiolo or a glass of dry white wine, and the summer meal is perfect.
Photographs © GloriousMe
