Sorrentine Pasta al Limone with Capers
By @chef1
A bright and flavorful pasta dish featuring a creamy lemon sauce, briny capers, and a hint of garlic. Inspired by the flavors of Sorrento, Italy.
Recipe Rating
Not yet rated by chefs
Ingredients
- ●8 oz pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini)
- ●2 tablespoons olive oil
- ●2 cloves garlic, minced
- ●1/2 cup heavy cream
- ●1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- ●1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ●2 tablespoons capers, drained
- ●1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- ●to taste Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ●to taste Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Instructions
- 1Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining.
- 2While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- 3Pour in heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and stir in Parmesan cheese until melted and smooth.
- 4Add lemon juice and capers to the sauce. Stir in red pepper flakes if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- 5Add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce. Toss to coat, adding a little of the reserved pasta water if needed to create a creamy consistency.
- 6Serve immediately, garnished with fresh parsley and additional Parmesan cheese.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- Italian
- Category
- Main course
- Preparation
- 18 minutes
Estimated total: 35 minutes. Planning estimate: explicit duration ranges use their midpoint; documented preparation, heating and handling allowances are included. Overlapping tasks are counted once. Package directions and doneness checks take priority.
How these estimates were calculated
- Mince garlic, prepare garnishes and measure ingredients: 5 min planning allowance (simple_prep)
- Bring pasta water to a boil: 10 min planning allowance (boil_heat)
- Cook dried wheat pasta: 10 min planning allowance (pasta_dried)
- Heat skillet while pasta cooks: 3 min planning allowance (pan_preheat)
- Bring cream to simmer: 3 min planning allowance (sauce_heat)
- Stir cheese into warm cream: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Stir in lemon, capers and seasonings: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Reserve water and drain pasta: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Toss pasta with sauce: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- Garnish and serve: 2 min planning allowance (garnish)
- Cooking overlaps other cooking or preparation; cooking subtotal omitted to avoid misrepresenting elapsed time.
- Assumes ordinary dried wheat pasta: 10-minute planning allowance. Follow the actual package; fresh or gluten-free pasta differs.
- Using generic dry enriched pasta.
- olive oil: USDA tablespoon portion weight
- garlic, minced: USDA clove portion weight
- heavy cream: USDA cup, fluid (yields 2 cups whipped) portion weight
- Excludes optional grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- lemon juice, freshly squeezed: USDA cup portion weight
- capers, drained: USDA tbsp, drained portion weight
- Excludes optional red pepper flakes (optional)
- Unweighed Salt and freshly ground black pepper: only documented zero nutrients included
- Excludes optional Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
- pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini): 226.8 g · USDA reference 169736
- olive oil: 27 g · USDA reference 171413
- garlic, minced: 6 g · USDA reference 169230
- heavy cream: 119 g · USDA reference 170859
- grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving: optional ingredient excluded
- lemon juice, freshly squeezed: 61 g · USDA reference 167747
- capers, drained: 17.2 g · USDA reference 172238
- red pepper flakes (optional): optional ingredient excluded
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper: documented zero nutrients only · USDA reference 173468
- Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish: optional ingredient excluded
pasta al limone · capers · lemon · Parmesan
Estimated nutrition per serving
756 calories · 16.9 g protein · 89.9 g carbohydrate · 36.9 g fat · 4.1 g fiber
Source and basis: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (2018), ingredient-based calculation per serving. Standard USDA portion weights; all listed ingredient mass included before cooking losses. Excludes optional grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving; Excludes optional red pepper flakes (optional); Excludes optional Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish Nutrients with incomplete inputs omitted. Full ingredient matches and assumptions below.
Recipe Context
This recipe was created with the following context in mind: