This week’s “Cook the Book” recipe is a quite simple pasta dish with an outstanding flavor combination!
Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano serves 4
3/4 pound spaghetti
1 lemon
1 1/2 cups finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese (about 3 1/4 ounces), plus extra for serving
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
course salt
2 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-5 Tbsp of pasta water, to thin
a handful of fresh basil leaves
Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.
Meanwhile, using a Microplane, grate the zest from the lemon into a bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a large mixing bowl (you can use the grater as the strainer to cut down on dishes). Add the 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, pepper, and a pinch of salt, and mix in the olive oil to form a wet paste.
When the spaghetti is cooked, add 2 to 3 Tbsp of the cooking water to the lemon and cheese mixture. Add the spaghetti to the bowl and toss thoroughly, adding another Tbsp or 2 of pasta water if necessary so that the sauce is evenly coating each strand. Roughly tear in the basil leaves.
Serve each portion with a sprinkle of coarse salt, a fresh grind of black pepper and a few gratings of extra Parmesan.
Logan’s Thoughts
Easy peasy recipe that delivers on flavor! This is absolutely a recipe staple that everyone should have in their kitchens. The ingredients are simple enough that you can whip this up whenever. Plus it’s very audience friendly, meaning you don’t need to stress about offending any sensitive palettes when cooking for guests.
I adore Gwen’s tip to use your Microplane grater as a juicer for the lemon. This is a trick I’ll carry over to other recipes in the future.
I did experience a bit of clumping with the cheese; it might help to let the pasta water cool slightly and to quickly toss the spaghetti to get better sauce coverage.
I’m excited to make this again soon!
