Basil Pasta with
Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

Serves: 4
Preparation: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons salted butter divided

  • 5 cloves garlic fresh, minced

  • ½ lemon(preferably Meyer lemon) thinly sliced

  • 8 oz pasta (I used farfalle or bow-tie pasta)

  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated

  • 2 oz fresh basil and add more to taste (up to 4 oz)

  • ½ cup pine nuts lightly toasted

  • Salt and Pepper to taste (use black cracked pepper)

Method

  1. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter, thinly sliced lemon, and minced fresh garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until lemon slices brown and release juices and minced garlic is browned but not burned. Remove from heat and add 2 more tablespoons of butter. Stir until it melts. Remove lemon slices from the skillet.

  2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook al dente according to package instructions. Drain pasta.

  3. Add hot, drained, and cooked pasta to the cast-iron skillet with butter and garlic. Stir everything well.

  4. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter and grated Parmesan cheese. Stir on low-medium heat for a couple of minutes to spread out the cheese among the pasta and melt it a bit. Remove from heat. Taste and season with salt.

  5. Add half of the fresh chopped basil to hot pasta and mix everything well.

  6. When ready to serve, top with the remaining half of fresh chopped basil, toasted pine nuts, and cracked black pepper.