Tagliolini al Limone
Pasta al limone is one of those dishes that I didn’t want to try at first. I wasn’t convinced that so much lemon belonged in a pasta sauce, but when you see something on enough menus of tiny, adorable, family owned restaurants, you eventually have to give it a try.
I of course loved it, and immediately understood why it’s such a great summer dish. It’s glossy, bright, and delicious, and comes together with minimal cooking for those hot hot days. It also requires just a few ingredients, so is a great recipe to have on hand when you need to throw something together and don’t want a huge grocery run.
Like most other dishes I’ve featured, modern or traditional, there are quite a few variations.
First, in the type of pasta. I made fresh tagliolini when testing this recipe, but feel free to substitute in boxed spaghetti for a quicker version. Any thin, long-cut pasta will do.
And second, with the sauce. Many versions include cream to get a rich finish. I wanted to avoid cream, so opted for a slurry instead. I like this technique because it’s lighter and allows the lemon to really shine, while still staying luscious and saucy. Using a slurry may seem odd at first, but trust the process! It’s the same idea as adding in starchy pasta water.
To make pasta al limone for 2-3 people you will need:
For the pasta
300g 00 flour
3 eggs
*Feel free to substitute in either pre-made fresh egg pasta (roughly 450g) or dried pasta (roughly 300g).
For the sauce:
40g butter
4 lemons
10g flour (roughly 1 tbsp - either All Purpose or 00 work fine)
50g grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving
Start out by making your pasta dough, if you are using fresh. See a more detailed explainer here. While the dough is resting, prepare the ingredients for the sauce - zest 1 of the lemons and juice all 4, and measure out your butter, cheese, and flour.
Once the dough is rested, roll and cut into tagliolini. I have been practicing my hand rolling lately, so rolled out my dough into one large sfoglia, as thin as I could make it (aiming for around 1mm). I then folded the top and bottom up several times to meet in the middle, and cut into about 3mm ribbons. If you prefer, you can also make tagliolini by rolling your dough out in batches through a pasta machine.
However you cut your tagliolini, make sure they are well floured and don’t stick together. Hang them on a drying rack or wrap them into little pasta nests to dry slightly until you are ready to boil them.
Next, it’s time to make the sauce. You can do this as you bring your pasta water to a boil. If using dried pasta, you can make the sauce while the pasta cooks, as it comes together quickly.
First melt the butter, then add and sauté the lemon zest for 1-2 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the lemon juice, then pour this slurry into the pan, stirring over low heat until it thickens slightly. Stir in a pinch of salt, then take off heat until your pasta is nearly cooked.
Once your pasta is just shy of al dente, return the sauce to medium heat and ladle in a spoonful of the pasta water, stirring to combine. Add the pasta and lower the heat slightly if needed.
Stir the pasta continuously but gently to emulsify the sauce. Add more pasta water as needed, and then finally stir in the cheese.
I chose to garnish with more cheese and a few strips of thinly sliced lemon peel, which I boiled for a few minutes beforehand to make them tender. This is completely optional - the zest becomes mild and soft enough to eat, but mostly just adds a nice visual touch!
