Creamy, Lemony Pasta Recipe (2024)

Many recipes for pasta (even some from this very site) now note that large pots of boiling salted water are not needed to cook pasta. In fact, many suggest using much less water results in pasta water that is starchier and better for use in sauces and coatings.And, it just might collectively result in less water usage overall, something our aquifers and reservoirs would benefit from.

I have been for several years now using much less water than what is considered usual and customary. My pasta cooks perfectly, and in cases where you need to reserve some of the cooking water for the recipe, it's much richer. Glad you pointed this out.

Made this exactly as written, terrific! Second time I added leftover salmon and some sautéed broccoli, still terrific! Thank you

I often cook pasta in pans that are smaller than recommended because I live in an apartment and getting out my biggest pan is a project. The smaller pan works best if you keep an eye on the pasta and stir it often. Separate thought: if adding the yogurt at the end, will it make the dish cold? If not, and you heat it, will it ruin the yogurt? I was under the impression that you can't heat yogurt and maintain its thickness or consistency. Please help.

This note is for Pat - about the clumping parmesan. I encountered this problem the first time I tries to make Alfredo - very frustrating, indeed! Then I discovered that all I needed was more heat. Bring the heat back up under your pot while stirring continuously. Adding hot pasta water a little at a time while you're stirring helps prevent scorching. Try it again. I've been making Alfredo like this now for about 40 years & it's worth it!

I put the pasta in a medium or small pot, add water to about one inch to cover, then cover and turn on the stove. Stir occasionally, add salt when it boils, stir once more and cook until it's at the desired texture. Less water, less energy and the pasta water is much starchier.

A nice, light recipe. Instead of shallots I use chopped tomato, peas, and finely chopped red onion. Serve with fish sticks and some sliced pear and viola, bachelor gourmet.

There’s a similar recipe on the site for lemon ricotta pasta which is quite good! Just make sure to use full fat ricotta.

Because I am lactose intolerant, I have made pasta this way for many years. I usually add whatever vegetable looks good from the green market. The lemon is a nice addition,

I never use the recommended amount of water and usually cut by half or more. I stopped using the recommended amount when I first started cooking as it seemed silly to me. I wasn't a good cook at all when I started, and that was nearly 50 years ago. So I am impressed with my young self to see your comments about water conservation and starchier water for better sauces! :-)

I tried the method of cooking pasta in a small amount of water recommended by Harold McGee. It resulted in pasta with such an off texture that my husband refused to eat it.However, I don't eat meat which is the best dietary choice one can make to reduce water use.

I’ve found that mixing the parm and yogurt together before adding helps with the non-clumping. Same when making carbonara. I mix the parm in with the eggs yolk before incorporating. It coats the grated cheese in a fat so as it melts it doesn’t clump.

i love how lemony this is— perfect for when you’re at the bottom of the barrel with your groceries. i always have these ingredients laying around

Yes, that's it. Line the strainer or sieve with a single layer of paper towel and place it over a bowl or pot to catch the whey as it drains. Using the paper towel, you can retain all the milk solids, and the paper towel peels away cleanly after you dump the yogurt into your storage container. I find that the texture is improved if you whisk the finished yogurt. The thickness varies, depending on whether you drain for 30 minutes, 3 hours, overnight - pick the consistency you prefer.

So...the parmesan did not turn silky/creamy, but clumped up into inedible things. In spite of 'stirring vigorously'. Never again.

Used sour cream instead of labneh, which I didn’t have. This was not a winner at my house.

Stirred so much on higher heat & the parm clumped awfully. We threw the leftovers out because it was so bad :(

This is like mac and cheese with lemon, and lighter bc yogurt not cheese sauce. Simple, easy, and delicious. Lots of proteins, like grilled chicken or shrimp, could easily be added. Next time I’ll use more onion.

So quick, easy, and delicious! Added a panko topping from another delicious Times pasta recipe and thought it was a match made in heaven. The extra crunch was perfect. (4 thinly sliced cloves of garlic browned in 2 Tbsp olive oil. Remove garlic, add panko and toast. Watch carefully!!)

Enjoyed this one a lot. I didn't have short curly pasta on hand so I used spaghetti noodles. Tasted great but the proportions were off for the noodles. But still loved it and so did my family.

Easy to prepare (which is why my teenage son chose it), but entirely uninteresting. A box of Mac & cheese would have been more satisfying.

You can make this a more balanced meal by adding some grilled chicken (with some oregano for example) and some Brocolli. Both fit great!

Made this with fresh paperdelle, which needed more liquid not to clump, but was a delicious dish. Subbed ricotta (what was on hand) for yogurt , added broccoli rabe which was a great bitter along with the lemon. Also sautéed shrimp for protein. New fave.

As someone else commented, a curdled mess. I didn’t do the cooking; my spouse and child did that today, so I’m not quite sure where it went wrong, but it did. Too much acid by far. They doubled the cheese the the yogurt used was some homemade (and slightly over-strained) yogurt with quite a lot of fat, but it still tasted unsatisfyingly…thin and not at all creamy? I’m tired and have to work, so I’m grateful my younger child is whipping up a snack, because this was just…deeply unsatisfying.

I love this pasta. It is so delicious and so simple. Highly recommend. I've made it numerous times and it's always so good, and adaptable! I've swapped the yogurt with creme friache and the scallions for chives. Sometimes I double the parm, yogurt and lemon. No matter what, if your parm starts to clump, add more pasta water and increase the heat while stirring. It will melt and emulsify eventually.

I know this is not a unique observation, but for me the cheese just melted and stuck to the sides of the pan and the spoon with which I was stirring. I doubled the yogurt to compensate, and later scraped off and discarded the cheese. Probably operator error, but I don't care enough to try again. Next time I will just put the cheese on top.

Got a comment when i prepared this that this pasta tastes more like a salad because of the yogurt, which i agree with. That said, this pasta tastes pretty good and refreshing from the citrus served cold. Pairs well with a salmon filet with crispy skin or a roast chicken.

Used Manchego instead of parmeasean because parm is usually too salty for me and this was perfect!! Swapped regular salt for black truffle salt. Used more lemon and labneh than called for. Used elbows instead of a fancier pasta shape. Came out amazing.

Made this with a few modifications, and it was yummy. 1. a whole cup of pasta water is too much - 1/2 is fine.2. For us, most NYT recipes do not have enough spice. This one could use some salt, more pepper and red pepper flakes.3. If you add 5 oz chopped fresh baby spinach leaves to the pasta one minute before it's done, and 3/4 pound of grilled shredded chicken at the end of step 3, it's a whole meal.

2.5X the labneh, more cheese, more water. A bit dry as written. Peas worked well. Try adding sautéed red onion & zucchini.