Spaghetti al Limone

I love paste recipes that are simple and light with just the right amount of spice. That is why I was delighted to come across the recipe for pasta al limone, i.e., pasta seasoned with lemon. But when I looked up still more, I could find wide discrepancies in the seasonings used in most recipes with the exception of perhaps olive oil, cheese, lemon and basil ( just one recipe used parsley ). So, I added a bit of my own to it. Cheese, lemon juice and mayonnaise with a hint of basil make for the most mind-blowing combination is what I discovered in process.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 150 gm spaghetti
• 2 garlic flakes (finely chopped)
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1/5 tsp chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp grated cheese
• 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
• juice of one lemon
• grated rind of one lemon
• 7-8 fresh Italian basil leaves
• freshly ground pepper as per taste
• salt to taste

Preparation - Take the chilli flakes, cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lemon rind, 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk together.


Cooking - Boil 8-9 cups water in a large saucepan. Add salt when it comes to a boil. As it gets to a rolling boil, throw in spaghetti. Cook for 12 mins or till aldente ( stir 2-3 times in between ).

After the spaghetti has cooked for 9-10 mins, heat a wok. Add the olive oil and as it warms up, throw in the garlic pieces. Allow it to just turn light brown. Remove and keep aside.

Drain the spaghetti while retaining about 1/2 cup of liquid. Add some of this liquid to the mixing bowl containing the cheese-mayo mix.

Transfer the spaghetti back into the saucepan. Add the olive oil-garlic and toss a bit. Add the contents of the mixing bowl along with some basil leaves and crushed pepper. Toss well.

Serve immediately.