Easy One Pot Light Lemon Spaghetti
This is a tasty and light lemon spaghetti recipe. It is full of flavor without being too heavy. The lemons add a bright and refreshing taste while the parmesan adds a deep savory and salty flavor.
You can enjoy this light lemon spaghetti as a main meal. Since this spaghetti dish is light it can also make a great side pasta for another main dish.
About Our Ingredients
Pasta: The very best pasta you can find is going to be bronze die extruded. The bronze die creates a rougher texture on the outside of the pasta which helps release starches into the water. Which in return helps the sauce stick to the pasta.
Lemons: Since we are using the zest it is important to pick lemons that have nice undamaged rinds. When picking lemons it is best to give them a light squeeze to ensure that they are not soft as the softer lemons tend to go bad quicker.
Olive Oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. When choosing a good olive oil look for a harvest date on the bottle. You want olives harvested within the last year it means that your olive oil is fresher and will have more flavor, because as olive oil ages it mellows in flavor.
Parmesan: When shopping for parmesan go to the deli section of your store and get a wedge as opposed to pre-shredded. Pre-shredded parmesan tends to have fillers in them and make your sauce chunky.
One Pot Healthy Lemon Pasta
Ingredients
- 16 oz Spaghetti
- 2 cup Reserved Pasta Water
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil Use a good extra virgin
- 1-1¼ cup Parmesan Grated
- 2 ea Lemons
- 3-5 ea Garlic Cloves
- 2 oz Basil leaves Torn
- to taste Salt and Pepper
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining pasta set aside 2 cups of the water that was used to cook the pasta.
- While pasta is cooking zest both lemons and juice both. Then mince the garlic and tear basil leaves.
- Heat pot over medium heat and add the oil and garlic. Cook until fragrant about 1 min. Then add pasta to pot and take off the heat.
- Add the lemon zest and juice then grated parmesan. Add 1/2 of the reserved pasta water and stir to combine. If the sauce is too thick add pasta water 1 Tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve with fresh torn basil on top and enjoy!
