What to cook tonight: Pasta al Limone

A popular choice on the terrace at my restaurant Santini, this lemon basil pasta dish only requires a handful of ingredients and is sure to be one you’ll make again and again.

Pasta al Limone
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 120g butter
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 1/2 lemons
• 200g dried pasta or 160g fresh pasta
• a handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• crumbled goat’s cheese, to serve

Method

1  Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta.

2  Meanwhile, to make the sauce, heat the butter, lemon zest and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pan. When the butter begins to froth, remove the pan from the heat. Do not allow it to burn.

3  When the salted water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions.

4  Drain the pasta but keep a cup of the cooking water. Tip the hot drained pasta into the lemony butter, add the torn basil leaves and a splash of the retained cooking water (about 60ml). Toss with gusto over a high heat until the pasta looks creamy and well coated.

5  Season to taste, top with crumbled goat’s cheese and serve immediately with extra freshly ground black pepper.

Tip: Try it topped with toasted pine nuts for something a little extra

Extracted from Laura Santtini’s Pasta Secrets by Laura Santtini (Ryland Peters & Small, approx €20).