From Milk Street, and delightful as a nest to be topped with seafood. This was served to them on a lemon farm in Amalfi, Italy. Note: "the lemons in the U.S. are more acidic than Amalfi's lemons, to to make a pesto that approximates the original, we use a little sugar to temper the flavor. For extra citrus complexity, we add lemon zest to the pasta cooking water, the oils lightly perfume the spaghetti and reinforce the lemony notes of the pesto."
I used regular lemons for the cooking water treatment and meyer lemons for the pesto itself, since I could get them.
Ingredients:
4 lemons
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1.5 tsp white sugar, divided
1/2 c slivered almonds
1/2 cup parmesan cheese for the pesto + 1/2 cup for finishing
1/3 c EVOO
2 Tblsp chopped fresh chives
1 lb spaghetti (I used linguine for the greater surface area)
With a vegetable peeler remove the zest (yellow part only) from the lemons in long, wide strips.
In a large pot combined 2 qts water (deliberately low to improve the viscosity and flavor of the cooking water), 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp of the sugar and half of the zest strips. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes, then remove and discard the zest. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Reserve 1.5 c cooking liquid and drain the rest, returning the pasta to the pot.
Meanwhile in a food processor, combine the remaining lemon strips, almonds, parmesan, 1/2 tsp sugar (I skipped this) and 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Process until the texture of coarse sand. Add the oil and process just until incorporated, about ten more seconds and set aside until pasta's ready.
When ready, add the pesto and half the reserved cooking water and toss to combine. Add more pasta water as needed, plus lemon juice if you're feeling zippy, and toss in the chives.
I topped ours with roasted halibut. Shrimp, scallops, lobster, other fish--all would be great. As part of a seafood dish, plan on 1 pound spaghetti making about 8 servings.
