Brown Butter Lemon Pasta
- Yield 4
- Prep 5 minutes
- Cook 20 minutes
- Total 25 minutes
Brown Butter Lemon Pasta is a pasta recipe on Avoteb. The yield on the card is 4. Plan on 25 minutes from start to plate. The amounts and the method are both on this page.
Ingredients
Yield: 4 servings
- 1 pound uncooked pasta (we love rigatoni or bucatini)
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) salted butter*
- 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 ounce freshly-grated Parmesan
Method
Leave the pasta. Warm a large stockpot of generously-salted water until boiling. Tip in the pasta (at the same time you being browning the butter, see below) and cook until 2 minutes shy of al dente.
Brown the butter. At the same time* that you add the pasta to the boiling water, begin cooking the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-a hot burner. Continue cooking until the butter has melted and begins to foam, stirring frequently to ensure that the butter cooks evenly. Tip in in the lemon zest and a few twists of black pepper and continue cooking the butter, stirring frequently, until it starts to turn golden brown and smells toasty. (Keep a very close eye on the butter so that it does not bur
Tip in the remaining sauce ingredients. Using a heat-safe measuring cup, scoop out 1 cup of the starchy pasta water from the stockpot and immediately pour it into the brown butter mixture. (Be careful and pour slowly because it will bubble.) Let the mixture let it bubble gently and reduce for a few minutes until it has thickened slightly, stirring occasionally. Tip in in the grated Parmesan and lemon juice and whisk until combined.
Finish the pasta. Once the pasta is 2 minutes shy of al dente, use a strainer to move the pasta directly to the brown butter sauce. Then toss it with the sauce, stirring gently and constantly, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is thick and glossy and coats the pasta evenly. (If the sauce seems too dry, just add in an extra 1/4 cup at a time of the remaining starchy pasta water as needed.) Taste and season with extra salt, if needed.
Plate Plate while it is hot, garnished with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan and cracked black pepper if desired, and enjoy!
