One of the great gifts of quarantining Spello was Paola at the gate, the gift bag in her hand completely outdone by her radiant smile. In that bag, though, oh, what treats! Giovanni’s homemade jams of orange and plum; a jar of capers we’re instructed not to eat until they’re ready at end of the month; cookies from Liguria that taste like soft and spongey amaretti, still warm tomatoes from Giovanni’s garden. And three enormous Ligurian lemons.

Immediately, my mind turned to a lemon cream sauce. I remember making one years ago, from a Diane Seed cookbook that I think may now be out of print.

Funny though, isn’t it, how you can make something twenty years ago and not think of it again until you feel the heft of a lemon that is just crying out to do something extraordinary?

I don’t have that cookbook here, but I found a recipe on Bon Appetit that sounded fairly similar. I adapted it and discovered that this recipe works even better than the one putting out a siren song over decades. Though some of that credit must be given to these ridiculously wonderful lemons. Every mouthful, I had to stop myself from moaning.

How could such simple ingredients lead to a dish that hit every one of my spots—sweet and a little sour and savory and deep and bright.

Welcome to Italy.

Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 super-sized Ligurian lemon or 2 smaller earthly ones

• 16 oz. spaghetti or other long pasta

• salt

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter

• 4 oz. finely grated Parmesan (about 1 cup, but do this to taste)

• Freshly ground black pepper

Process

• Use a vegetable peeler to remove three 2 inch-long strips of lemon zest. Make sure you get none of the bitter white pith. Thinly slice each strip lengthwise into thin strands; set aside for serving. Finely grate remaining zest (again avoiding the pith) into a large pot. Squeeze the lemon into a small bowl until you have 3 tablespoons of juice and no seeds.

• Cook pasta in another large pot of boiling heavily salted water, stirring occasionally. Make sure you remove it when it’s very very slightly underdone as it will finish cooking in the sauce.

• Add cream to lemon zest in the other pot and cook over medium heat, whisking often, until it starts to simmer, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Whisk in butter 1 Tbsp. at a time until melted and sauce is creamy and emulsified. Remove from heat.

• Just before pasta is al dente, scoop out 2 cups pasta cooking liquid (the starchy, salty liquid is gold). Add 1 cup pasta cooking liquid to cream sauce and return to medium heat, putting the rest of the pasta cooking water aside. Using tongs, transfer spaghetti to pot with sauce (it’s okay if a little water comes along with it). Cook, tossing often and adding most of the Parmesan little by little, until cheese is melted and sauce is creamy, about 3 minutes. If sauce looks tight, add pasta cooking liquid, a tablespoon or two at a time. (Cream sauces tighten up quickly as they cool, so it’s better to err on the side of too saucy than too dry) Stir in reserved lemon juice; season with more salt and or Parmesan, if needed. With all the acid and fat in this dish, it may require more salt than you usually use, so taste carefully and taste often.

• Divide pasta among bowls. Season with pepper, then top with reserved lemon zest strips.

Buon appetito!

Sound tasty? Do you have a pasta dish that lingers in your memory? Let us know in the comments! You can share this recipe by clicking the button below. And never miss a post or a recipe by signing up for The Grapevine!