To be honest I haven’t made that many lemon pastas in my life, probably 6 or 7 recipes, which I now realize might be considered a lot. Is it? Anyway, I’ve always had the problem of the cheese and butter clumping up and I felt like the lemon was lost by the time I served it. Not with this pasta! Adapted from the Queen herself this is a very lemon-forward pasta, and the cheese is optionally adapted at the end. It’s so good! 

Adapted from Ina Garten’s Lemon Capellini

Makes 4 to 5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound of pasta (Ina used capellini and I used mezzi rigatoni) 
• The zest and juice of two lemons
• 14 tablespoons of butter, divided, cold from the fridge
• Diamond kosher salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of Calabrian chili paste, use less if you don’t like it spicy 
• Fresh basil, optional
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, optional 

Directions

1. Cook your pasta until it’s al dente (1 or two minutes shy of done) in well-salted, boiling water.
2. Meanwhile, melt 8 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the zest and the juice of the lemons and season with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper (see note). Add in the al dente pasta, a splash or two of pasta water, and the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter. Cook together for a few minutes until the pasta is done, adding a little more pasta water as needed to create an emulsified sauce. Remove from heat – I find the sauce continues to thicken as it sits. 
3. Stir in the Calabrian chili paste, however much you are using. Taste and adjust with a pinch more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Garnish with fresh basil and cheese, if desired!

Notes

• If the butter is melted before the pasta is ready, turn off the heat so the butter doesn’t brown. Although brown butter is delicious, it’s not the flavor we’re going for here!