Nothing like a COVID Christmas to knock the wind out of your menu plans. COVID day 4, Christmas Eve, our traditional fresh cracked crab and fondue with a big green salad was so far from interesting it was out of sight. Herbal tea, water and Gatorade had been our diet for days and the closest we could get to real food was this recipe from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen for Simplest Spaghetti al Limon. We couldn’t really taste or smell, but this sounded doable. I’ll add the recipe in case you find yourself in a COVID state and need something bland to celebrate.
Simplest spaghetti al limone
Deb’s Notes: It was the River Cafe London’s 30th anniversary cookbook edition, released last year, that reminded me of what a pure and wonderful thing spaghetti al limone can be when made as uncluttered as possible. Their minimalist version is heated at the end but I found the technique I use for my foolproof cacio e pepe — a thicker paste of a sauce, thinned with just a small splash of pasta water after it has coated the hot spaghetti — to work more reliably, and to all but eliminate leading weary home cooks to wonder why they haven’t been able to coalesce oil and water together on a Tuesday night. I find I need much less lemon and olive oil, as well. Marcella Hazan calls fettuccine al limone “one of those lightning-quick Italian triumphs” and she seems like a good person to trust on this. It takes all of a minute longer to make than pasta takes to boil, and the result is the kind of sunny, summery, quick meal we all need more of in our repertoires.
I am usually no fan of Microplane (specifically Microplane rasp-ed) parmesan. I find it fluffy and weightless. I prefer my parmesan with more bite, gravitas. But here, it’s the very best way to go, rendering parmesan so fine that merely a whisk will turn it into a sauce. Plus, you’ll already be using it for the lemon zest, right? If you don’t have one, use the tiniest holes on a box grater.
If you can find an unsprayed/unwaxed lemon, it’s all the better here. If you can’t, give your lemon a light scrub (not removing zest, of course) and dry it thoroughly before zesting it here.
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen serves 2 to 3 and takes about 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
• Coarse salt
• 1/2-pound dried spaghetti
• 1 lemon
• 3 1/2 ounces parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Fresh basil leaves, torn
Directions: Boil the spaghetti in well-salted water according to package directions. While it boils, finely grate (with a rasp-style grater) the zest of half your lemon into the large bowl you’ll use to serve your dish. Add the juice of the whole lemon (about 4 tablespoons). Use the same rasp to grate the parmesan on top. Add olive oil, about 1/2 teaspoon salt (and more to taste), and several grinds of black pepper and combine them with a whisk until very well mixed and as smooth as possible. When the pasta reaches the ideal texture, scoop out 1 cup of cooking water, set it aside, and drain the rest. Quickly turn piping hot spaghetti to lemon-parmesan mixture in bowl and use tongs or spoons to toss it until all of the strands are coated. Don’t worry if the mixture seems too thick or sticky — first get the strands as evenly coated as possible. Add reserved pasta water, a tiny splash (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) at a time, tossing the whole time, only until the spaghetti looks glossy and lightly sauced, but no so much that you “wash” the sauce off the pasta. You might only need a single splash to achieve this. Add basil leaves and toss to combine, then serve. If you finish each serving with a little extra olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan, you’ll be glad you did.
Our Christmas morning traditional meatballs and gravy, coffeecake and spicy egg casserole sounded out of sync with our delicate innards and way too much for just the two of us. We enjoyed plain scrambled eggs courtesy of the generous backyard hens with dry toast and herb tea and were grateful for each other and feeling well enough to eat anything at all. Sometimes simple is the best.
Hope your Christmas was wonderful and we are looking forward to a COVID-free family New Year’s celebration.
