Go Back Email Link
White plate with fettuccine pasta topped with a light lemon pepper pasta sauce. The pasta is garnished with freshly grated Parmesan and thyme.
Pin Print

Easy Lemon Butter Pepper Sauce for Pasta

A simple and flavourful lemon pepper sauce for pasta with a touch of garlic and lots of butter!
Author Minela D'Amore
Course Vegetarian
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Butter Pepper, Lemon Sauce
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 people
Calories 229kcal

Ingredients

  • Fresh pasta or dried pasta 300g fresh or 250g dried
  • 50 g butter divided
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cracked black pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic grated or minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt if using unsalted butter
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Parmesan cheese to serve

Instructions

  • Cook your pasta in a pot of heavily salted water, undercook it slightly so it can bubble away in the finished sauce for a minute or two. Before draining reserve a cup of the pasta water.
  • Melt 25g of the butter in a saucepan over a medium-high heat and toast the pepper for a minute.
  • Lower the heat slightly, add the rest of the butter and whisk until melted and just bubbling, careful not to brown.
  • Lower the heat even further, it should just be softly sizzling and add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
  • Take the pan off the heat completely and add the lemon juice, a couple of teaspoons at a time, whisking until well combined (even though whisking in a lemony sauce is the polar opposite of relaxing, still a good workout?!).
  • Return to the element, still on a really low heat and add in ¼ cup of the pasta water and then your cooked pasta and toss well.
  • Let your pasta gently cook away in the butter mixture, turning and tossing constantly until al dente, 2-3 minutes.
  • Serve with the fresh lemon zest on top and lots of grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

  • Allow your pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.– This tip comes from alfredo self discipline because I can’t neatly transfer my pasta into the sauce from the water I don’t have someone else here to hold a finished strainer of pasta above my head to drizzle water into the sauce. I never wish to see splashes of pasta cooking water on my stovetop
  • Additions!– This is ultimately a pretty simple recipe and the perfect base. Use this sauce as a base to add some vegetables or protein to make it a little more substantial if you wish.
  • This sauce will never be a saucy plate of pasta, the beautiful thing about a butter sauce is it kind of soaks into the pasta too, giving it lots of flavour!