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Pasta al Limone is a simple summer pasta that’s creamy, bright and deliciously lemony. The combination of butter, lemon zest and juice, heavy cream and pasta water, gives you an intensely craveable pasta recipe. Serve this with my Limoncello Tiramisu and an Aperol Spritz for the most delicious Italian dinner.
I’ve recently become obsessed with Italian food. I want to read about the different regions, and talk for hours about different pasta drying techniques. It’s become a recent fascination and this recipe is a by product of that.
I love everything from traditional, more authentic recipes like my Cannelloni and Pasta alla Nerano to even untraditional more American takes on recipes like my Tiramisu Pie and Calzone. All delicious!
Where is Pasta al Limone From?
Pasta al limone is a famous summer pasta dish that is actually made all over Italy. In my research, I was assuming I would find that its origins were going to be in the South of Italy, maybe Capri or Amalfi Coast, but in fact, it’s made all over. But it is made in abundance in the South during the summer months.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Pasta al Limone
- Lemons – I like using the zest and the juice.
- Heavy cream – This, along with the pasta water is going to give us a nice delicious sauce.
- Garlic – Flavor.
- Parmesan-Reggiano – You can use Pecorino Romano too.
- Good pasta – I love a good pasta. I chose a pasta shape called Malfaddine but use what you like!
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe index card below!
How to Make Pasta al Limone
- In a medium pot filled with salted water, bring to a boil and add the pasta.
- In a medium to large skillet or saute pan, set over medium heat, add the butter. When the butter has melted, add the garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and a few pinches of salt.
- Remove about 1 cup of pasta water.
- Add the heavy cream and 1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce. Cook it on a simmer for about 3 minutes. This will thicken the sauce.
- Using tongs, add in pasta, along with the cheese and mix vigorously for 1 minute. This will ensure an even coating of the sauce. You want a nice glossy sauce.
- Serve it up. You can garnish with black pepper or minced Italian parsley. And maybe even some lemon slices for added cuteness.
Tips and Tricks
- The biggest key to a good pasta sauce? Pasta water. It’s like the specialty ingredient that makes every sauce THAT much better. It’s glorious.
- Use the zest and juice. In this recipe, you really need the zest AND the juice. It adds such a punch of brightness to an otherwise overly fatty dish.
Recipe FAQs
You can use half & half. If you use whole milk, the sauce will most likely break because of the added lemon juice. I would refrain from doing that. You could add all pasta water and let it cook down with the lemon juice and zest. It will obviously be less creamy but still be delicious.
It means “lemon-scented”!
I always like cooking it for 1 minute less than the directions on the package. I then cook it for 1-2 minutes in the sauce and I find it really adheres to the sauce best when it finishes cooking in the pan with the sauce.
More Cozy Recipes To Make
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Pasta al Limone
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Zest from 2 lemons
- Juice from 2 lemons, (about 1/3 cup lemon juice)
- 16 ounces pasta of choice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano , about 2 ounces
- Handful of Italian parsley, minced
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
- In large skillet, set over medium heat, add the butter. When melted, add the minced garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and a few pinches of salt. Turn off the heat and turn your attention to the pasta.
- Meanwhile, in the pot that’s boiling, add the pasta and cook it until about 1 minute under al dente. We’re going to cook it a bit longer in the pot with the sauce.
- Remove about 1 cup of pasta water. To the sauce, add the heavy cream and 1/2 cup of pasta water. Cook it on a simmer for about 3 minutes. This will thicken the sauce. Add the pasta, along with the cheese and mix vigorously for 1 minute. This will ensure an even coating of the sauce.
- Plate it up and top it with a sprinkling of Italian parsley or black pepper.
Notes
- The biggest key to a good pasta sauce? Pasta water. It’s like the specialty ingredient that makes every sauce THAT much better. It’s glorious.
- In this recipe, you really need the zest AND the juice. It adds such a punch of brightness to an otherwise overly fatty dish.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wowowow my whole family loved this pasta!! I’m a psychopath and used a combo of whole milk and vegetable broth instead of heavy cream (because I didn’t have any) and this recipe STILL turned out great. Perfect amount of lemon and richness. Added shrimp for some protein and the whole meal was fabulous.
haha amazing! i’m so glad to hear that the lemon juice didn’t break the milk. sounds good with shrimp, too! 🙂
Planning on making this tonight and am really excited! Did you have any issues with curdling? I didn’t even know about that as a possibility but apparently there’s something with lemon and heavy cream. Either way, I’m gonna follow the recipe and see how things go!
this shouldn’t happen with heavy cream. it has enough fat that it can stand up to the lemon juice. BUT if you used regular milk, it would definitely curdle. let me know how it goes! 🙂
I cut this recipe in half because I thought I was just cooking for one. My lactose intolerant boyfriend had one bite and forced me to give him some… something he never normally does with dishes like this. It’s THAT good. And now I’m wishing I made the whole thing!
It’s so bright & lemony & delicious. Thank you!! Can’t wait to make this again.
hahaha i love hearing this. just a tip tho: someone on instagram made this recipe using cashew cream and she said it tasted great!
As always, bomb dot com. Super easy to make. Fiancé always complains my dishes take too long, but this one finished before his tonight!!
The zest is everything.
YASS love hearing this. 🙂
Made the recipe tonight. Used fresh pasta. I love lemon, but thought it was overpowering.
Looks so yummy! I’ve been super into pasta lately too.
Just made this tonight. It came together quickly and uses ingredients most already have in their kitchen. Perfect for a busy weeknight. Will definitely be adding this to the meal rotation. Great recipe!!
This looks great! Haw many servings does this recipe make?
oh sorry about that! it serves 2 🙂
Definitely my kind of pasta dish – loaded with flavor but quick and easy! So excited to try this 🙂 Could you tell me what kind of noodle shape that is? I had it once at an Italian restaurant but have never been able to find it in my local store or even figure out the name!
yes, it’s called malfadine! here’s more info on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafaldine
it’s amazing. i love the shape. 🙂
This looks really good. It is a light pasta dish in my opinion. What kind of pasta did you use here? It is great looking.
thanks! it’s called “malfadine”