Easy Lemon Pepper Pasta with Parmesan
Pasta lovers rejoice! This creamy Lemon Pepper Pasta with parmesan is a delicious dinner that will quickly become a family favorite. Made with just a handful of ingredients you likely already have on hand at all times and is an easy 20 minute meal, it's the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner that is sure to impress. Serve it with extra fresh grated parmesan cheese on top and a crisp glass of white wine or Prosecco for the ultimate in Italian delight!
Ingredients
- 9 oz fresh pasta I use gluten free
- 2 tablespoon butter salted or unsalted
- 1 tablespoon olive oil regular or garlic infused
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese freshly grated
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- fresh cracked black pepper to taste about 2-3 tsp
Instructions
- Grate the Parmesan Cheese. Using a microplane or cheese grater, grate about 1 cup of fresh parmesan cheese and set aside.
- Juice & Zest Lemon. Using a microplane, zest 1 lemon, then using a lemon juicer extract the juice and set both aside.
- Prepare Pasta. In a pasta pot over medium heat, bring well salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions, usually about 2-3 minutes if using fresh pasta, 9-12 minutes until al dente if using dried depending on the type of pasta.
- Prepare lemon pepper creamy parmesan sauce. While the pasta cooks, in a separate pan over medium-low heat, heat butter until melted. Once butter is melted, remove from heat and add 1 ladle full of pasta water. As soon as pasta has finished cooking, add the cooked pasta to the pan, then drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle in freshly grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest and black pepper.
- Garnish & Serve. Garnish the pasta with additional parmesan cheese & lemon zest and serve.
Notes
- Add protein. To make this a complete meal, adding protein like diced chicken or grilled shrimp on top of the pasta is the best way to add protein to this delicious meal.
- Don't skip the pasta water! Since we are not using heavy whipping cream, the addition of pasta water is crucial in creating the creamy pasta sauce we're after.
- Use high quality parmesan cheese. When making the parmesan cream sauce, I recommend using good quality parmesan cheese, not the pre-grated shelf stable kind as it will not melt as well, meaning you won't achieve the creamy consistency you're after in this wonderful recipe.
- Storage tip: If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days after cooking.
Tried this recipe?Mention @prettydeliciouslife or tag #PDLrecipes!