Dinner Tonight: Lemon Linguine
The name itself—singsongy and alliterative—was enough to convince me. Then I noticed it had 7 ingredients, which includes salt and pepper—so let's say 5 ingredients. Little chance for anything superfluous to get between the two main acts—just a little Parmesan for creaminess, olive oil to soften the citrus, and basil for color and freshness. Along with Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic, this is comfort food, out-of-the-pantry cooking, with no ingredients left to be taken out of the dish. There would be nothing left.
After searching for a couple recipe variations (I decided against Paula Dean's approach, which adds a carton of sour cream), Giada De Laurentiis seemed the most sensible: while the pasta cooks, a little emulsion of lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmesan is whisked in the serving bowl, seasoned with salt and pepper, then tossed with the cooked pasta and some of its water. Lemon zest is sprinkled on top, along with some chopped basil. This lets you adjust the sauce right in the serving bowl before adding the pasta, so that the puckery lemon doesn't overwhelm.
If a bowl of pasta without much else doesn't appeal, this would make a nice bed for a piece of seared chicken, or tossed with a couple sautéed shrimp.
Lemon Linguine
- serves 4 as main dish or 6 as a side -
Ingredients
1 pound linguine
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Procedure
1. Bring a large pot of salty water to boil.
2. In the meantime, in a large serving bowl whisk the lemon juice and olive oil until partially emulsified, then add the Parmesan and continue whisking until creamy. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust the oil-to-lemon ratio until it's well-balanced.
3. Cook the linguine until al dente. Reserve a cup of the cooking water, then drain and add to the serving bowl. Toss until well-coated; the heat from the pasta will melt the cheese and help it stick to the linguine. Add some cooking water if the pasta is dry or claggy.
4. Serve with a little sprinkled lemon zest and the basil leaves.
View other entries from Dinner Tonight.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
4 Comments:
Sounds delicious. I'd be tempted to add chopped shallots and garlic (like I do to nearly every pasta dish with lemon).
PerkyMac at 11:46PM on 01/17/08
Yes, yes, yes! That would be divine.
jesskel at 6:11PM on 01/18/08
You are giving me hope! I used to eat lunch at a small cafe near Market and Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco and they served a lemon linguine. It was great. But, then the cafe was sold. . . . I thought I would never be able to recreate this dish but now I know where to start! It was a delicious light lunch. Thank you!
Stephanie at 12:06PM on 01/19/08
PerckyMac:
I agree with your suggestions of adding chopped shallots and sliced (or chopped) garlic. I would add crushed red pepper and freshly chopped flat leaf Italian parsley as well. That is the way my Grandpa Pasquale made it:) Still think of him every time I make this!
Dinasocean at 3:40PM on 01/21/08