Creamy Lemon Spaghetti
December 13, 2020 | By Jeremy Scheck | 40 Comments
Can you tell I like pasta? This recipe is loosely inspired by cacio e pepe with a creamier, lemonier (is that a word?) twist. Italians: don’t worry, when I make real cacio e pepe, I do NOT add any cream, butter, or mascarpone. I made it in a recent TikTok video, which you can find here:
This recipe is super simple requires no more time than the spaghetti needs to boil.
Creamy Lemon Spaghetti
Ingredients
- Abundant kosher salt (to salt the pasta water)
- 1/2 pound dry spaghetti
- 2 oz freshly grated pecorino romano cheese (parmigiano reggiano is fine, but pecorino romano has a better flavor for this dish)
- 1-2 lemons
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ~2 tablespoons cold butter
- ~3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, or heavy cream
Instructions
- Read the whole recipe through before starting, or watch the video. Otherwise, it might be confusing.
- Heat a pot of water over a high flame. Meanwhile, grate your pecorino romano cheese in a bowl. Zest your lemon and add the zest to the pecorino cheese. Juice your lemon in a separate bowl.
- When your water is at a rolling boil, generously salt it and add the pasta. Cook as per the package instructions, subtracting ~3 minutes from the al dente cook time. For example, if the package says "cook 11-13 minutes", cook 9-10 mins. When the pasta has about 3 minutes left, get a dry skillet going over medium heat and continue to the next step.
- Use a ladle to add a couple tablespoons of hot pasta water to your pecorino-lemon zest mixture. Mix it well with a spoon or fork to dissolve it.
- Crack some pepper into the dry skillet and let it toast briefly. Add a couple ladlefuls of hot pasta water to the skillet with the pepper (about 2/3 cup). Add in the butter and continually shake the pan to let the butter slowly melt in and emulsify.
- Add the cooked pasta to the skillet (I prefer to use tongs over draining it). Add the pecorino-lemon-water mixture into the skillet and the mascarpone. Mix everything really well and let the pasta simmer in the sauce for the last minute of its cook time. Add more pecorino cheese and keep agitating the pasta if it is not emulsifying.
- Finally, turn off the heat and add in the reserved lemon juice. Mix well. Enjoy with more black pepper on top!
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.
I just made this for my family in 10 minutes. It is now my mom’s “favorite pasta of all time”. Thanks! ????
Had some leftover lemons and made it today. Used a bit of cream cheese and cream instead of the mascarpone as you recommended, and I loved it. Will cook again!
best pasta i’ve made in a long time and sooo easy
Just made this and wow! So simple yet delicious. Alfredo was my favorite pasta but now I think this took its spot. I used penne instead of spaghetti but it was equally delicious.
I just made this pasta and it is so delicious! I will definitely make it again :))
This turned out great. Added sliced chicken and steamed broccoli and used bucatini instead of spaghetti.
So easy to make and tasted AMAZING! Perfectly creamy, citrus-y and the pepper adds a great touch. I added a bit of garlic to mine and ate it with scallops. Absolutely loved it.
i’m eating it right now and it’s really good!
Sooo yummy! Made it for my husband and I tonight! It was gone so fast! Easy and delicious!
Just made it and it was so good! Extremely easy, took like 15 minutes and was very simple and fresh tasting. My very picky mother gives it an 8/10. Will definitely be making this again!
I make this recipe whenever I’m having a bad day because it’s the most delicious thing in the world and it makes everything better. I’ve also made it for family and friends!! thank you jeremy <3
I just made this for my family and everyone loved it. This is definitely my new favorite pasta recipe!
THE BEST PASTA
Literally so easy to make and so good. 10/10 Jeremy you are a genius!
This is going to be my pasta meal on Christmas Eve night and I’m making the red velvet cake (with ombré frosting) for dessert on Christmas night! Thanks for the suggestions!!
Easy and delicious! On the heavier side, but the lemon lightens it right up. The family loved this one.
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it.
I think this is the best pasta I’ve ever eaten outside of Italy
My family loved this!! It is super fast to cook, we tried to start the sauce before the pasta and left it waiting because of how quick it was. My mom said it was a very “summer pasta” and we can’t wait to make it again on a warm summer evening.
Why not add the lemon with the butter?
Lemon juice loses its flavor the more it’s cooked.
I am trying to practice making recipes before heading back to my apartment. I really loved this recipe, but I would say using only half a lemon or maybe getting rid of the zest. It was just a bit strong for me lemon wise.
I’m going to try to go vegan for a little bit so today I made this pasta and the roast chicken and both were amazing!
So delicious! Thank you Jeremy!
This was so quick and easy, I added leftover salmon and spinach in place of lemon because I don’t love the flavor and it was great!
My family really liked this recipe! We added some frozen peas into it for some green.
Thinking of making this as an addition to some fish, will definitely check out!
THIS WAS SO AMAZING THANK U:):)
Such a simple and fresh pasta! Now in the regular rotation in my house.
This is one of the best things I’ve ever cooked!! It’s a little fast paced, so be extra sure you have all your ingredients ready to go. This is definitely going in my rotation of favorite recipes! Thank you Jeremy <3
Is it possible to make this dairy free with a substitute for the cream?
It would be difficult. There are 3 different types of dairy in it.
As someone who gets a lot of anxiety in the kitchen I feel so proud for being able to successfully complete this recipe and it was DELICIOUS!! Will definitely be making this for my family all the time
So good! Made it for my family and everyone loved it! Definitely will make it again. Used half & half instead of mascarpone because that’s what I had in my fridge and it worked well! Looking forward to trying it again with mascarpone or heavy cream
I love this dish !
Honey this recipe was so good, and perfectly explained that even I did not mess it up. For once everything was eaten up by the family that same night. Loved it!!
Another easy recipe that I love more than his other ones. Anything lemon and creamy is my favorite. Followed to a T And came out perfect
Ugh the first couple times I made this it came out perfect but the last few times I’ve had this issue where the cheese melts into clumps when I add it to the pasta. I though it was because the pan was too hot but it still happens when I turn off the heat before I put the pasta in. (I’ve also made it without the cream so I’m guessing that was the issue that time, but still, so annoying)
What would be the best way to add some veggies into this meal? The pasta is so delicious I don’t want to take away from that!
Absolutely love this recipe!! Any advice for getting the cheese to not just stick to the bottom of the pan? I feel like I’m doing something wrong…
I’ve made it 5 times now and it’s delicious but I feel like I’m wasting so much cheese when I get to the end and it’s not really sticking to the pasta but my pan and tongs instead.