Lemon-Butter Tagliatelle

Fresh lemon juice, wine, garlic, butter, pasta and parmesan. These are a few of my favorite things. The first time I ever had lemon pasta was in Capri, Italy in 2018...and that's what this exact dish is inspired by. Fun fact - I ate it the day after Bryant asked me to marry him so I was on all sorts of highs, lol.

You don't have to use tagliatelle pasta. You can use whatever shape you like, but I think a longer flat noodle tastes the best because that's the way I ate this dish for the first time in Italy. If you can't find tagliatelle, fettuccini or linguine work great too! Make sure you remember to add a little of the starchy pasta water into the sauce. That + butter makes for the ultimate silky pasta.

What You Need

• 1/2 lb pasta, I prefer tagliatelle or linguine/fettuccini but any shape will work
• 4 tbsp salted butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1-2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup white wine (should be a dry wine like chardonnay, not a sweet wine)
• 1 cup heavy cream (I do not recommend half and half or other dairy products, heavy cream works best!)
• Juice from 1 large lemon
• Salt & pepper as needed
• Optional: parmesan cheese for topping

What To Do

• Cook tagliatelle according to package instructions. (Note: if you salt the water enough, you won't have to use as much salt in the seasoning of the sauce.)
• While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet on low-medium heat. Add in the garlic and whisk.
•  Add in the white wine and turn the heat up a tad so that it's bubbling. Let the alcohol cook out of the sauce for 2-3 minutes - the flavor that's left behind after the sauce reduces is so good. (If you can't do alcohol, you could skip this part.)
• Add in the heavy cream, 1/2 cup at a time with whisks between each pour. Add the lemon juice here too. It should start to thicken up as it bubbles. If it doesn't, melting some freshly grated parmesan cheese can help.
• Season with the garlic powder, salt and pepper here.
• Continue to whisk on and off for 8-10 minutes while it simmers and turns into what will look like an alfredo sauce.
• Add the cooked pasta straight from it's boiling water into the lemon butter sauce and gently toss everything together. Here is where I like to add 2-3 tbsp of the hot pasta water which contains salt and starch for extra luscious flavor and texture. 
• Top with fresh parmesan cheese and more black pepper, it should be as silky as your silkiest nightgown!

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