A weeknight pasta that utilizes simple pantry ingredients in a luxurious way. A sliced whole lemon gives unbeatably fresh aroma from the skin, bitter complexity from the pith, and tart, puckery juice from the flesh. Thin slices soften evenly and ensure that the lemon plays nicely with the pasta, brown butter, and Parmesan.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
1
8
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling generously salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions (pasta will finish cooking in the sauce).
Step 2
Meanwhile, heat half of the butter in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium until melted. Add lemon slices and cook, stirring often, until softened and bottom of pot is browned in spots, 5–7 minutes. Using tongs, transfer one-third of lemon slices to a plate; set aside.
Step 3
Just before pasta is al dente, scoop out 2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Add 1½ cups pasta cooking liquid to butter sauce. (This may seem like a lot of liquid, but it will thicken once the remaining ingredients are added.) Add remaining butter a piece at a time, whisking until each piece is incorporated before adding more, until the sauce is emulsified and creamy.
Step 4
Drain pasta and add to sauce. Cook, stirring often and adding 1 oz. Parmesan a little at a time. Once all of the cheese is added, continue to cook, still stirring, until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy and clings to pasta, about 3 minutes. If sauce looks very thick, add more pasta cooking liquid 1–2 Tbsp. at a time to thin (saucier is ideal as it will thicken as it cools). Remove from heat and sprinkle with an almost ridiculous amount of pepper (about 2 tsp.); toss once more.
Step 5
Serve pasta topped with reserved lemon rounds and more Parmesan.
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Reviews (135)
Back to TopLovely lemony taste. The lemons were translucent by the time the butter browned which i think eliminated any bitterness. I added the 1.1/2 c of pasta water and it seemed soupy. When i added the pasta, it took in all of the sauce. I also added peas and shrimp for some protein and greens. My sister gave it thumbs up.
Vail Ski Chick
Vail, CO
4/5/2023
This.is.so.good. Try to follow the recipe as is, so you get the desired effect and flavor. Cook the lemon in the butter until it's slightly browned. When making the sauce, add the butter pieces one at a time and whisk until each is incorporated, and then whisk some more until your sauce is all put together. Once you add the pasta, you will be stirring until your arm feels like it's going to fall off - but you have to. I followed the recipe exactly and I ended up with almost no sauce, it all just clung to the pasta and it was wonderful. This recipe is now a staple in my house.
Anonymous
California
10/24/2022
Deserving of all 5 stars. Absolutely! Delicious! I even went back for a 3rd helping. So lemony - cheesy - and peppery! What intrigued me about this dish was sauteing the entire lemon... I've never heard of that. I tweaked the recipe by adding red pepper flakes to the lemon butter sauce ... might as well add some heat if you are going to douse it with copious amounts of pepper...then at the end I added fresh parsley and basil from my herb garden. Wooza...it was fantastic. My husband and I entertain a lot and we will judge a new recipe based on if it's company worthy. It is! I used regular lemon since my grocery store didn't offer a Myer's lemon. For the people who said t was bitter - please try again - you might have had a bad lemon. It's worth the extra effort of one more time.
Gina Fair
Tampa, FL 33609
12/28/2021
Loved this dish! I used rigatoni since that was all that was available, but it worked perfectly. I didn’t blanch the lemon like others recommended, I just sliced it super thinly (like 3–5mm) and made sure to remove all the seeds. I also removed the softened lemon slices about a minute before the butter had browned. Everything turned out great, and I loved the zing of the lemon and the sharp flavor from the black pepper paired with the buttery, salty sauce. 10/10 recommend
DontBlanch
Marquette, MI
11/27/2021
Meh. It was fine. Not awful. But not really worth the effort at all. Didn't give me more nuance than I would have gotten from simple buttered pasta topped with Parmesan.
Anonymous
10/22/2021
operator error, i'm sure. but where/how/why, i'm not sure. i essentially had soup made out of a stick of butter, thinly sliced lemon, and too much (but the called-for amount) of the pasta water. hoping against logic, i added the parm--maybe IT would thicken it up? nope. wth, i dumped the pasta in & slurped it up anyway. the flavors were heavenly, how could they not be? butter, chz, and lemon! but i truly would've liked a successful execution of the recipe--i'm a pretty good cook. ah, ya can't always get it right!
2cairnterriers
mpls MN
9/27/2021
Made this last night for a special Sunday Dinner and it was D-lish! I modified the recipe just a tad by using Lobster Ravioli and adding garlic shrimp to the final product, I used Meyer Lemons, removed ALL seeds, Kerrygold Butter for the best butter flavor and squeezed an additional reg lemon into the sauce just prior to serving, garnished with chives. Zero bitterness, just sublime savory lemon buttery sauce which we both loved and would serve to company which is our barometer, would we serve this to company? A very hearty yes sir on this one. Served w/grilled garlic bread on side to wipe out the bowl because it was that tasty. Wish this review system allowed me to post my finished product pics of the dish with my mods. We really loved it and encourage you to try it too.
Katherine B
Pacific Northwest
3/29/2021