Crumbs on the Table

Stories about food

  • Home
  • About
    • About Laura and Crumbs
    • What you will find here
    • FAQs
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Savoury things
    • Sweet things
    • Ingredients
  • Articles
    • Articles
    • Podcasts
    • Reviews
    • Producers
    • Places
  • Contact

Sicilian fast food: lemon spaghetti

February 12, 2020 laura Leave a Comment

This simple and utterly delicious pasta dish was a revelation when we tasted it at Annarella and Fabio’s table outside Noto in Sicily.  We were there to visit the organic farm where they grow lemons, oranges, almonds and olives, one blissfully sunny but not-too-hot October afternoon (read more about their farm here).  Annarella cooked a memorable feast for us using the produce from the farm, and it was the purest, simplest and best food we had all week in Noto, and that is saying something.There were the best black olives we’ve ever had, picked ripe from their trees and cured with sea salt in a basket until tender, salty-sweet and full of juice.  We nibbled these with bruschetta so good they were impossible to stop eating, dressed as they were with nothing more, as nothing more was needed, than the farm’s delicious organic olive oil and a sprinkle of dried wild oregano foraged from the Sicilian countryside.

Then there were dishes of courgettes simply grilled and dressed with Fabio and Annarella’s excellent lemon zest, extra virgin olive oil, and herbs; and fennel sautéed with onion and fresh sage.   Perhaps our favourite (it was so hard to choose) was a splendid dish of  ‘Concetta’s peppers’, named for their friend who made it from roasted sweet red peppers, capers and herbs, bound with bread crumbs, aged sheep’s milk Pecorino, and naturally, more of that wondrous olive oil.

There followed bowls of the sunniest, brightest, most satisfying lemon spaghetti, made with their lemons and a wonderful pasta made by another friend in Modica, from the flours of ancient grains.

Annarella called her delicious lemon spaghetti the fast food of Sicily, and it was an exciting discovery that hasn’t dimmed with repetition as we’ve taken to it at home on busy nights back in England.  It always reminds us of those lemon groves and that relaxed table where we first ate this cheering dish, with the purr of Bianca the kitten at our backs, dozing in a basket of almonds and hazelnuts, and her sister kitten and a sleepy dog lazing on the cool flagstone at our feet with their noses to the sunshine.

RECIPE

Lemon spaghetti

With thanks to Annarella of Zisolhouse, who first cooked this for us and taught us to make it

This amount will dress 250g of dried pasta, which will generously serve two people as a main course, or four as a starter.  This recipe can easily be scaled up or down.  It’s easy to make for one person; just halve the amounts given here.

NB:  Remember to save some of the starchy, salted water you cook the pasta in, as you will need it to finish the dish.  This liquid turns the buttery lemon and cheese into a silky sauce that coats the spaghetti beautifully.

If you like chillis, you can add a chopped fresh red chilli at the stage when you dress the pasta.

Ingredients for two servings 

  • 250g (8 ounces) dried spaghetti
  • 60g (2 ounces) butter, room temperature
  • 60g (2 ounces) aged Pecorino, or Parmesan, grated
  • the zest of two unwaxed lemons, finely grated
  • the juice of one lemon
  • a small handful of fresh basil leaves
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • optional garnish:  a little extra grated cheese and lemon zest

Directions

  1. In a bowl large enough to take all the pasta once it’s cooked, mix together the softened butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and grated cheese, until well combined.   Set aside.

  2. Bring plenty of water to a rolling boil, and salt it generously.  Boil the spaghetti according to the directions on the packet until just tender (typically around 10 minutes for dried).
  3. While the pasta is cooking, roll the basil leaves up into a bundle and make a ‘chiffonade’ of them by slicing through the bundle as thinly as you can.  Do this just before using, as the basil discolours once cut.
  4. Scoop out a cupful of the hot cooking water before draining the pasta, and set it aside.  Drain the pasta and add it to the bowl with the lemon/butter/cheese mixture.  Sprinkle on most of the basil chiffonade.  Using tongs or two forks, quickly toss the spaghetti and basil in the lemon/butter/cheese mixture, and add a tablespoon at a time of the reserved hot pasta water, until you have a silky sauce that coats the spaghetti. It will probably need about 2 tablespoons, or 1 for each serving, maybe a little more.  Season to taste with some sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
  5. Serve onto warmed plates or bowls;  sprinkle with more grated cheese, basil, and grated lemon zest if you like.

Other Sicily recipes and stories on Crumbs on the Table:

  • Olive oil and sweet wine cake
  • Sicily I: Noto town and market
  • Sicily II:  Caponata
  • Sicilian vanilla gelato

Other pasta dishes on Crumbs on the Table:

  • Homemade asparagus and pea ravioli
  • Umbrian baked rigatoni with sausage and peas
  • Tuna, anchovy and caper sauce for pasta

And of course why wouldn’t a kitten choose to nap on a bed of almonds and hazelnuts?

Basil, Citrus, Ingredients, Lemon, Pecorino easy recipes, pasta recipes, Sicilian recipes

Featured posts

Moving kitchen

A Valentine’s menu, and musings on love’s labours

img_1969In Tomato Fields

lauradonohuecrumbsonthetablepearspoachedinwinecambridgemagazineNovember Magic

The pleasures of the plum: a season in review

Tour D’Argent: a remembrance of things past at today’s prices

Les abricots de MontpellierApricots, les abricots

piggery chocolate mousseI used to cook in a piggery

Peach cobbler: in search of a lost recipe

blcakcurrant jam and scone close upAfternoon tea of a faun

Cambridge in March: English asparagus and rhubarb

Bullet ice cream and other strawberry tales

Slumped dumplings, and other lessons from the kitchen

Seed cake and story

Autumn Leaves

October in Cambridge: apples and squashes

Favourite cookies: snickerdoodles

Cherries sour, cherries sweet

Eggs: a big story for a simple food

Elderflower Rose CoolerA Midsummer Night’s Eve potion

Edible equinox: early spring on a plate

Cherry blossom

salmon, egg and shrimp smorrebrodScandinavian smørrebrød

Pea croustadePeas in the pod

Syttende Mai

Those summertime blues

Easter is late this year

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What you will find here

Crumbs on the Table  is a food blog with tested recipes, and stories about food.  I aim to share the best recipes I know, and something of their context: the places they come from, … More

guild-of-foot-writers-logo

Finalist
Guild of Food Writers
Food Blog of the Year 2019

guild-of-foot-writers-logo

Finalist
Guild of Food Writers
Food Blog of the Year 2018

Best Food Writing Book

Published in
Best Food Writing 2016

guild-of-foot-writers-logo

Finalist
Guild of Food Writers
Food Blog of the Year 2015

Pink Lady Food Photographer of the year 2019 - Highly Commended
Pink Lady Food Photographer of the year 2018 - Commended
Pink Lady Food Photographer of the year 2015 - Commended
  • instagram
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest

Subscribe to updates by email

Loading

Recent Posts

  • Wholesome carrot breakfast-muffins, and a finely textured carrot cake
  • Chicken breasts with black olive tapenade, roasted red peppers & prunes in puff pastry — and other ideas for a different Christmas
  • Caramel cake distraction bake
  • Tamale pie
  • Sicilian pasta ‘ncasciata: pasta bake with aubergine
  • Rose and violet shortbread biscuits

Featured recipes

Napoli bream with pink peppercorns, coriander seeds and rosemary

Tuscan-style grape and walnut harvest bread

South African malva pudding with coconut and rum

Citrus jelly with passionfruit

Sweet potato quesadillas

Rhubarb sponge crumble

Asparagus and pea ravioli

Coffee crème caramel 

Apricot pie

Garlic soufflé

Fish with grilled cucumber

Baked gooseberry caramel pudding

Chocolate rose cake

Sicilian vanilla gelato

Celery, stilton and sage tart

Fresh coconut cake and cream pie

Duck legs braised with beans and herbs

Roasted tomato soupRoasted tomato soup with coconut milk

Chez Panisse almond tart

Dobosh torteDobosh torte step-by-step

IMG_9245Baked chicken with potato, tomato and parmesan

Chocolate pots de crème

Peach and prosciutto panzanella

banana chocolate chip barBanana chocolate chip bars

Roast potato, chicken and bacon salad

Norwegian waffles

MK's Profiterole PontresinaProfiteroles Pontresina

Bong's chicken with artichokes

Books and Blogs

I share with you here some of the cookbooks, blogs, food memoirs, and other culinary writings I have found most delicious, intriguing, and helpful over the years.  This … More

Archives

Latest from Instagram

Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Daily Dish Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Crumbs on the Table is a non-commercial blog. It uses cookies to gather anonymous visitor information, but never sells it on. Please click ‘okay’ to continue to use this site; or read the Privacy Policy to learn more.OkPrivacy Policy