Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Boil a pot of heavily salted water for your pasta. Cook the pasta, timing it to add directly to the sauce at the end. If you drain the pasta before the sauce is ready, reserve a mug of the pasta water.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions.
- When sizzling, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft.
- Add the garlic and pepper. Cook for another minute or two. If anything is browning, turn the heat to low.
- Add the tomato paste and whisk to combine. Cook for a minute or two.
- With the heat still low-medium, add the cream and whisk to combine evenly. Keep the cream at a gentle simmer; adjust heat to low if needed.
- Add the lemon juice and whisk in quickly. If you find it curdles your sauce, you can add it at the end with the cooked pasta.
- Add the finely grated parmesan in three separate additions, whisking after each addition to ensure it melts.
- Add your pasta directly into the sauce with about ¼ cup of pasta water. Let the pasta simmer gently in the sauce for a minute or two to thicken. Add more pasta water if needed to loosen.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.
- Serve and enjoy. You can add extra parmesan, black pepper, or fresh basil leaves.
Notes
If your dried pasta takes 11-12 minutes to boil, start the sauce about 3-4 minutes into the pasta cooking time. Pasta water is essential for adjusting sauce consistency. Reserve some before draining. Adding pasta directly from the pot to the sauce is a good way to ensure you have pasta water available. The sauce may seem abundant initially, but the pasta will absorb it as it sits and reduces.