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close up of creamy lemon pasta

Creamy Lemon Pasta With Garlic Butter

Prepare to meet your new favorite dinner. Creamy lemon pasta with garlic butter tastes impressive, seems fancy, but it actually very easy. It's a win all around. You're going to love this tender pasta enrobed in a silky, lemony cream sauce.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound dry spaghetti you can use any pasta shape. I like spaghetti or rotini.
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 6 cloves garlic very finely chopped or even made into a paste. See note.
  • 1 and ½ cup heavy cream
  • zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese see note
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
  • 1 cup pasta water you probably will not need the whole cup, but reserve that much just in case.
  • fine sea salt to taste

Equipment

  • 1 medium to large pot for cooking pasta
  • 1 12 inch skillet or enameled Dutch oven if you use a skillet, use one with high sides.
  • ` Microplane/lemon zester

Method
 

  1. Bring enough water to a boil to fully cover your dry pasta by about an inch. When the water is boiling, add about 3 Tablespoons of kosher salt. Cook pasta according to package directions, just to al dente. Gather all of your ingredients while the water comes to a boil.
  2. Immediately after starting your pasta, finely chop 6 cloves of garlic. I mean finely. You could even make garlic paste by smashing the garlic cloves and a little salt with the side of your knife a few times.
  3. zest and juice 2 lemons. Reserve the zest and the juice seperately.
  4. In either an enameled cast iron Dutch oven or a high sided 12 inch skillet, melt 1-4 cup of unsalted butter over medium heat. After the butter foams and then stops foaming, add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 to 45 seconds.
  5. Measure 1 and ½ cups of heavy cream into a 2 cup liquid measure. Separate the egg yolk from the white by cracking the egg into your hands over the sink or a bowl. Let the white slide through your fingers, and reserve the yolk. Add the yolk to the cream, and whisk.
  6. Add the cream and egg yolk mixture to the garlic butter and whisk thoroughly. Add the lemon zest and black pepper. Bring to a simmer. You don't want a full on boil, so you may need to lower the heat. Whisk often.
  7. When the pasta is finished, grab it straight from the pot with tongs or a wire spider, and add it to the cream sauce. We want the water that comes with it, so don't stress about that. The starch in the pasta water is going to help thicken and emulsify our sauce.
  8. Carefully dip a 1 cup measure with a handle into the pasta water and reserve about 1 cup. Don't burn yourself.
  9. After all the pasta is added to the sauce, stir vigorously. Add ½ cup of reserved pasta cooking water.
  10. Using tongs, turn and stir the pasta for a few minutes over medium heat. Yes, I said minutes. This gives the starch in the pasta water the agitation it needs to act as an emulsifier, turning your sauce silky smooth. When the sauce is to your liking, remove from the heat. Add more pasta water if you wish. Remember, cream sauces also thicken as they cool.
  11. Turn off the heat and add the parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.
  12. Enjoy!
  13. If you have leftovers, add a splash of remaining pasta water to them before storing in the fridge. This will help prevent the sauce from getting too thick.

Notes

Ideally you will use a nice parmesan and grate it yourself, but a mid-range, pre-grated parm works perfectly well too. This recipe will not, however, work with the powdery parmesan from a can. The texture will turn out clumpy and weird.
If you do not chop your garlic finely, you might end up with unpleasant chunks of garlic in your otherwise smooth sauce.