Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Boil a pot of heavily salted water for your pasta. Cook the pasta so it is ready to be added directly to the sauce at the end. If you drain the pasta before the sauce is ready, reserve about 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 and cook for another minute or two. If anything starts to brown, 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 by adjusting the heat to low if needed.
- Add the lemon juice and whisk in quickly. If you find the sauce curdles, you can add the lemon juice at the end with the cooked pasta.
- Add the 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 bubble gently in the sauce for a minute or two to thicken. Add more pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.
- Taste for seasoning and add salt as needed.
- Serve immediately. You can add extra parmesan, black pepper, or fresh basil leaves.
Notes
If your dried pasta takes 11-12 minutes to cook, start the sauce about 3-4 minutes into the pasta cooking time. Pasta water is essential for loosening the sauce. Always reserve some before draining. You might think there is too much sauce initially, but the pasta will absorb it as it sits. It's better to have too much sauce than too little.