Lemon pasta is one of the simplest pasta recipes out there. Painlessly easy to make–the ingredients, so plebeian–but the end result is one of my most favorite pasta preparations ever, and has gotten me out of many a what-am-I-going-to-cook-for-dinner-tonight conundrum. Lemon pasta been my go-to dinner on many a hot summer evening or one of those cold winter nights when the days are so short that 8pm looks and feels more like 10.30pm. The recipe really doesn’t require much: pasta, lemon, Parmigiano, olive oil, garlic and some parsley.
Spazio Milano, which you can read more about here, has an unbelievable version of this classic with one tiny ingredient change that takes the dish up about 87 million notches and has forever changed my personal lemon pasta recipe: mint. Perfectly refreshing on a hot summer day and a way to conjure my nostalgia for summer and all things that come with it during the cold of winter. It’s also appropriate for when I can’t fulfill a Spazio craving on the spot. Although, I can put together Spazio’s lemon pasta at home, it’s no replacement for the restaurant itself and also, thanks to this recipe, I can’t bring myself to prepare lemon pasta with anything but tagliatelle, whether I make it on my own or purchase it freshly made.
The lemon pasta recipe from Spazio Milano restaurant is below, but I encourage you to go there and try it yourself. It’s life-changing! (Note: Spazio is one of Sauce Milan’s picks for best restaurants near Milan’s Duomo). The restaurant’s version doesn’t call for any garlic, but I feel the need to add some sautéed garlic only because I’m garlic obsessed. Happy cooking!
Lemon pasta recipe from Spazio Milano
Ingredients
400 gr Tagliatelle
100 gr Parimigano-Reggiano aged 24 months
20 gr extra virgin olive oil
Black pepper
Lemon zest
Mint leaves
Mix the Parmigiano and olive oil in with boiling water. (I use the pasta cooking water as there’s a starchiness that helps hold the dish together. I realize there is nothing novel about this.)
Put the cream in a pan with black pepper, add the cooked pasta and whip.
Add lemon zest and mint leaves when it’s removed from the flame.
Serve hot.
Spazio Milano:
Spazio Milano: 3rd floor, Mercato del Duomo; Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza del Duomo; + 39 02 878400; website
Open 7 days: 12.30pm – 2.30pm; 7.30 – 10pm
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