Spare Spoons Kitchen
The Weeknight Kitchen · about 20 minutes

Goat Cheese & Lemon Pasta

A bright, tangy lemon pasta built on soft goat cheese melted into a little pasta water — lighter and sharper than a cream sauce, on the table in the time it takes the pasta to boil.

~20 min total 1 pan + pasta pot
Effort ●○○○ Time ●○○○ Anytime
Vegetarian
Servingsamounts scale to match
4
Units

Ingredients

Melt the cheese with hot pasta water, off the heat. Whisk the goat cheese and Parmesan with a ladle of starchy cooking water into a loose cream before the pasta goes in — adding cheese to a too-hot pan makes it clumpy. The starch in the water is what makes the sauce cling.

Easier, if you like

  • Cream cheese works in place of goat cheese for a milder, less tangy sauce.
  • Add protein — flaked cooked salmon or a can of tuna turns it into more of a meal.

Method

    Cook's notes

    Goat cheese makes it tangy and light — a different animal from the rich cream sauce of the Marcella fettucine al limone; make whichever mood you're in.

    Pasta water is the secret — its starch emulsifies the cheese and oil into a clingy sauce. Don't skip saving it.

    Zest the lemons before juicing, and use the zest — it carries most of the lemon perfume.

    Good with a handful of peas, asparagus, or wilted spinach tossed in at the end.

    Best with fresh pasta: lovely over homemade pasta — save extra pasta water to loosen the cheese into a silky sauce.

    Vegetarian as written; easy to make gluten-free

    Gluten-free: use gluten-free pasta (save the cooking water as usual).

    Vegetarian Parmesan: use a rennet-free hard cheese if that matters to you.