Creamy Lemon & Mint Pasta
Next up we’re getting fresh with my Tonnarelli Menta e Limone (Creamy Lemon Guitar Spaghetti with Mint) by using homemade guitar spaghetti and adding just a whisper of mint. Eat it al fresco while sipping on a crisp glass of wine and pretend you’re dining under the lemon trees somewhere on the Amalfi coast. Just gorgeous.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh Tonnarelli pasta (use the same pasta dough recipe as above)
- 2 lemons
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
- Handful of mint leaves
Method
- Roll the pasta into sheets and cut them to fit your chitarra. Using a rolling pin, roll the sheets through the chitarra. Repeat with all of the pasta dough.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Zest both lemons and set zest aside. Juice one of the lemons and set juice aside.
- In a medium size pan, add butter and melt over medium heat. Add ¾ of zest and let cook for a couple of minutes to extract all the essential oils. Add the juice, mixing to combine, then add heavy cream and a pinch of salt. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat.
- When the pasta water reaches a boil, add a generous pinch of salt. Add fresh pasta and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender but with a bite.
- Working off of the heat, add the al dente pasta to the cream mixture and let the Parmigiano-Reggiano rain down on top of the pasta. Add about ½ cup of tears of the gods and massage it into the pasta until a beautiful cream forms.
- Plate and crown with remaining lemon zest and a few leaves of fresh mint and enjoy your masterpiece immediately.
