This recipe is inspired by the infamous Spaghetti al Limone served at Lil’ Frankies in the East Village. I love this pasta for many reasons, one being how simple it is. The ingredient list is small and it can be done in under 20 minutes. Since we are using so few ingredients, I encourage you to consider splurging on them. Opt for a higher quality butter, I like Kate’s Creamery and Plugra. Most importantly, you MUST use fresh grated parm. As in, buy the block of cheese and grate it at home. Pre-grated cheese is mixed with additives to extend the shelf life, and these additives also make it literally impossible for the cheese to melt properly. I’ll spare you the details, but just trust me on this one.
In this recipe you will find that I have you add the cheese, butter and pasta water in 4 stages. Incorporating it everything gradually unison will encourage the cheese to melt seamlessly into the sauce and the butter to emulsify. If you were to add everything all at once the cheese would clump up and the sauce may break. Meaning the fat separates from the liquid giving it a greasy consistency. Think: reheated mac and cheese where the cheese congeals to the noodles and is surrounded by a pool of oil.
If you suspect that this is happening at any point, add more hot pasta water and just keep stirring. The amount of pasta water that you’ll end up needing for your sauce will vary, but it should be between 1-2 cups. Your sauce will look loose at times, but as you continue to add the Parmesan cheese the sauce will thicken.
