One of our favorite things about the Amalfi Coast is the abundance of lemons. They are everywhere, and they are huge! We needed a simple weeknight dinner last week and had lemons and egg pasta on hand, so we put together this quick pasta dish inspired by a lemon pasta we had on our trip.
You need very few ingredients for this. Use an egg tagliatelle (we used this one), and either heavy cream or a combination of half-and-half and butter. It needs to have enough milk fat to prevent curdling. We had half-and-half on hand, and I added 1/4 cup of buffalo milk butter. You’ll need a large stock pot, a wide skillet (we used this one), and it helps to have a flat whisk like this one for stirring the sauce.
We served our lemon pasta in a blue and white bowl, along with a simple salad, freshly grated Grana Padano cheese (c/o), and a crisp white wine. For summer pastas and salads we also love this, this, and this serving bowl, and these low bowls.
- 1 cup half and half
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 lemon zest, if desired
- Grana Padano Cheese, freshly grated
- Egg tagliatelle
- Salt
- Pepper
- Bring a stockpot of water to boil and heavily salt it. It should taste like the ocean. Drop in the tagliatelle and set a timer for four minutes, or one minute less than the package instructions.
- As soon as you've added the pasta to the water, heat the half and half and butter in a wide skillet. While whisking constantly, add the lemon juice and continue whisking so that it does not curdle. If you want a bolder lemon flavor, you can add a little lemon zest.
- When the timer for the pasta goes off, the lemon sauce should be hot. Move the pasta into the skillet of lemon sauce, with a splash of pasta water, and simmer for one minute, or until the pasta is perfectly cooked. Add a generous amount of freshly grated Grana Padano and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
