This creamy, perfectly lemony, and simple-to-make Pasta al Limone is one that you can (and will want to) make on repeat! It’s so easy to prepare, yet surprisingly full of flavor. With minimal ingredients, it’s a sure win as a weeknight dinner or even a special occasion dish.
This blog post is sponsored by DeLallo.
You know those pastas that are just irresistible? This is it! Everything from the creaminess, and the lemony brightness, to the cheesy goodness and fresh basil. Not to mention this dish can be made in around 20-25 minutes. And when you’re short on time, you’ll want to utilize easy recipes with not a lot of ingredients that still pack a flavor punch.
Each ingredient in this Pasta al Limone shines. With DeLallo Castelvetrano Extra Virgin Olive Oil and DeLallo Spaghetti, you can’t go wrong. Combine it with fresh lemon juice, freshly grated cheese (dairy-free works great), and fresh basil. Add some salt and pepper to taste, and you’ve got yourself a perfect weeknight dinner.
If you’re not yet familiar with the DeLallo Foods products, you are in for such a treat! I’ve been using their products for years and years, because the selection and quality is so fantastic. We absolutely love their olive oils, pastas, olives, variety of canned tomatoes, and pasta sauces. You’ll find so much more on their website, including a plethora of amazing recipes to inspire your kitchen adventures.
Tips For Making This Recipe
You can dial up or down the amount of lemon juice to suite your tastebuds. The recipe as written is full of lemon flavor. So if you’re a lemon lover, you are in the right place!
I love to use freshly grated dairy-free parmesan for this recipe. It takes a bit of time to grate it at home, but it’s worth it! You can reserve a bit to sprinkle over the top before serving.
You can use either fresh basil or fresh Italian / flat-leaf parsley. Both will work great, so you can go with your preference or what you have easy access to. The fresh herbs add a pop of color as well and amazing flavor. Using fresh herbs is such a simple way to add a punch of flavor to your dishes. I like to add them at the end for biggest flavor.
You’ll want to carefully follow the method for this recipe, to make sure you get a beautiful, creamy texture. This dish is meant to be eaten when it’s fresh and hot.
How This Pasta al Limone Comes Together
Cooking the pasta:
This Pasta al Limone recipe uses spaghetti, and I just love the texture of DeLallo Spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling water (until barely al dente), along with around 2 tbsp of kosher salt. It sounds like a lot of salt, but it will flavor the pot of water so that the spaghetti absorbs it during cooking. The spaghetti will turn out perfectly seasoned.
Remember to reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water prior to draining the pasta. The hot cooking water is a key component to the sauce. It allows the sauce to come together.
Making the sauce:
While the pasta is cooking, heat up a large pan on medium heat. It will need to be large enough to fit the cooked spaghetti. Add the olive oil and allow it to heat up. Then add about half of the lemon juice and roughly 1/3 of the lemon zest, and stir well. Adding in lemon juice and zest during the cooking process will give a rich, lemon flavor to the sauce.
After simmering for several minutes, add in the cooked spaghetti. Also add the salt and pepper, about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, the remaining lemon juice and most of the remaining lemon zest. You’ll want to reserve some lemon zest for garnish. Stir the spaghetti well, and let it simmer for a couple minutes.
Putting it all together:
Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle in around half of the grated cheese, and stir it quite vigorously into the spaghetti to incorporate. Then repeat with the remaining cheese. If the sauce is too thick, you can stir in a little more of the pasta cooking water.
Top the pasta with the fresh herbs and more parmesan and lemon zest to serve.
Other Delicious Pasta Recipes
If you try this recipe, I would love to see it! You can tag me on Instagram @janetsmunchmeals and be sure to leave a star rating in the recipe card below.
Pasta al Limone
Ingredients
- 1 lb. DeLallo Spaghetti
- ½ cup DeLallo Castelvetrano Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Juice and zest of 4 lemons
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 5-6 fresh basil leaves to taste (or 1 tbsp finely chopped Italian / flat-leaf parsley)
- ¾ cup to 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese dairy-free, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions, until just al dente, and adding in approx. 2 tbsp kosher salt into the pasta cooking water. Before draining, reserve 1 cup hot pasta cooking water.
- Meanwhile, heat a large pan on medium heat, then add olive oil. Once hot, add half the lemon juice and about 1/3 of the zest, and stir. Let simmer for 3-4 min, then add in the drained spaghetti, along with about half of the pasta cooking water, salt, pepper, the rest of the lemon juice, and most of the remaining zest (reserve some zest for garnish). Stir very well and cook for 2-4 min.
- Take pan off heat and sprinkle in half of the parmesan, and stir it in quickly with tongs, moving the spaghetti around vigorously to incorporate. Repeat with the remaining parmesan, adding in some pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce as desired.
- Thinly slice the fresh basil leaves, if using. Serve pasta topped with fresh herbs, and garnished with extra parmesan and zest as desired.