Spaghetti Limone
Somehow this very classic pasta dish seems to fly under the radar, but we love it! You can imagine yourself eating a big plate of Spaghetti Limone atop a red and white checkered tablecloth in Manhattan's East Village – a bright lemony dish blasted with fine grated parmesan and maybe a sprig of parsley. At First Street Market we add a veal cutlet and capers in our "Veal Piccatta" dish for those with full-size Italian appetites.
Ingredients - Serves 2
280g fresh spaghetti chitarra
15mL vegetable oil
10g fresh minced garlic
2g chili flake
30mL white wine
2 lemons, juiced
Zest of a half lemon
15g unsalted butter
Pasta water to adjust thickness
20g grated grana padano
3g fresh parsley
Bring salted water to a boil. Heat a medium sized pan to a medium heat. Add vegetable oil and sauté garlic, careful not to brown. Once garlic is aromatic, add chili flakes and deglaze with white wine. Reduce heat and let cook for about a minute, then and add lemon juice and zest.
Cook your pasta until al dente (about 2 minutes). With your pan on low heat, add butter. Combine pasta into pan and toss together to coat noodles. Add parmesan and continue tossing, until the cheese is evenly melted in there.
Your sauce should be enough to coat all the pasta with an extra 2 tablespoons in the pan. You can thin out your sauce with a splash or two of pasta water, or you can thicken by adding a little more parmesan and tossing. Taste your sauce before plating – it should be a bright, lemony flavour and nicely seasoned by the cheese.