Adriana's Lemon Pesto Spaghetti

Name: Adriana's Lemon Pesto Spaghetti
Prep time: 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 Lemon rind; 50 g Lemon juice; 50 g Olive oil; 1 clove Garlic; 1 pinch Salt; 1 pinch Red pepper flakes; 10 g Parsley; 5 g Mint; 50 g Italian pine nuts; 100 g Grated Parmigiano; Extra cheese

Procida is a tiny little island just off Naples which was the location for The Talented Mr Ripley and was awarded Italy’s Capital for Culture for 2022. Lemons in this part of the world are large, sweet and fragrant. Despite the fame and attention, village life continues. Adriana, Antonietta, Enza, Maria, and Teresa are neighbours and friends through the local choir who share a love of cooking. Originally they demonstrated 3 recipes, which you can watch on Pasta Grannies, and this is the one that is brilliant for unexpected friends, or when you want to cook something really quick that tastes like a long weekend in Italy. Adriana remembers: ‘my mother used to make this pesto in winter, because that is when lemons are ready to be picked. We’d buy or forage the pine cones in the summer, then come the cold weather we’d dry the pine nuts near the fire place before using them in this pesto. We added parsley and mint, because basil is a summer herb, but of course you can use this too. And, you know, in those days we didn’t use Parmigiano - we made this pesto with pecorino cheese’.

Prep

30m

Ingredients

Method

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Step 1

Peel the lemons, keeping only the skin. Remove the pith by anchoring the peel pith-side up with a finger and carefully sliding a flexible filleting knife horizontally under the pith, away from your fingers, leaving the zesty skin. Chop the rinds finely.

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For

Lemon rind, large organic, ideally from Procida

Lemon juice, from about 2 lemons

Olive oil

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Notes

Allow 90g/100g of boxed spaghetti per person.

Use organic lemons, ideally from Procida.

Parsley can be swapped for basil, walnuts can be swapped for Italian pine nuts, and pecorino can be swapped for Parmigiano. These days one can buy Amalfi lemons, which are very similar to the Procida ones, quite easily; but if you are using regular lemons, you may want to experiment with the acidity by reducing the amount of juice and adding a little more water. Meyer lemons can also be substituted.

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Adriana's Lemon Pesto Spaghetti

Procida is a tiny little island just off Naples which was the location for The Talented Mr Ripley and was awarded Italy’s Capital for Culture for 2022. Lemons in this part of the world are large, sweet and fragrant. Despite the fame and attention, village life continues. Adriana, Antonietta, Enza, Maria, and Teresa are neighbours and friends through the local choir who share a love of cooking. Originally they demonstrated 3 recipes, which you can watch on Pasta Grannies, and this is the one that is brilliant for unexpected friends, or when you want to cook something really quick that tastes like a long weekend in Italy. Adriana remembers: ‘my mother used to make this pesto in winter, because that is when lemons are ready to be picked. We’d buy or forage the pine cones in the summer, then come the cold weather we’d dry the pine nuts near the fire place before using them in this pesto. We added parsley and mint, because basil is a summer herb, but of course you can use this too. And, you know, in those days we didn’t use Parmigiano - we made this pesto with pecorino cheese’.

Prep

30m

Ingredients

Method

Turn cooking mode on

Step 1

Access all recipes now

Cook along with all of our recipes

Save your favourites and build your own collections

Access all membership benefits

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For

Lemon rind, large organic, ideally from Procida

Lemon juice, from about 2 lemons

Olive oil

Access all recipes now

Cook along with all of our recipes

Save your favourites and build your own collections

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