How The Pasta Queen Adds A Touch Of Extra Flavor To Her Lemon Temptress Pasta

Pasta fans rejoice! Your favorite online pasta personality, the prolific, dramatic Pasta Queen, has her own show. From quick videos of Italian classics with her unmistakable flair to a line of cookware and a cookbook, Nadia Caterina Munno, better known as The Pasta Queen, is all about helping her followers make authentic pasta dishes. The Amazon Prime show of the same name expands on that premise, following her through Italy as she meets food personalities and collects fresh ingredients, and finally to her kitchen where she puts together dishes that are "just gorgeous." And yes, you'll hear many of her iconic lines in every episode, too.

Episode 5 introduces the Lemon Temptress pasta and with a name like that, you know it's one that Munno particularly enjoys introducing to viewers. The simple dish, made with delicate spaghettini and fresh Italian lemons from Sorrento, is simple yet decadent in a way that only Italian dishes can be. It also keeps that bold citrus flavor front and center of the dish, using lemon juice and rind. As a crowning touch — both for the extra flavor and in the spirit of using different parts of the lemon — she tops the pasta with fragrant lemon leaves that have been dehydrated in the oven until they become crisp. It's the perfect garnish for the Lemon Temptress pasta and one that the Pasta Queen adds with her signature flourish.

In addition to lemon, spaghettini, extra virgin olive oil, and sharp aged provolone cheese, you will also need to source lemon leaves for the dish. If you're unable to get some from a 300-year-old Italian lemon tree plantation like Munno does, leaves from a local lemon tree will also do. For this dish, you'll also make a lemon infusion by simmering lemon juice and rind in water for a few minutes and then resting it overnight. The next day, the liquid should be fully infused with lemony goodness and can be used to boil pasta. Before you start cooking, remember to set your oven to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and place 4-5 lemon leaves on the baking tray. Keep an eye on them and remove once they are crispy.

While you don't always need extra virgin olive oil for every Italian preparation, in this dish the earthy richness of a high-quality oil adds valuable depth to the bright, citrusy notes. This is also one of those rare times when you should add olive oil to the water in which you're boiling your pasta. Pour a few tablespoons into the boiling pasta and don't forget to salt it. The spaghettini absorbs lemon flavor, so you should continue adding the lemon infusion whenever it starts to look dry. Interestingly, this is much like how Spaghetti all'Assassina or Assassin's Spaghetti is made using a similar tomato infusion.

As the finishing touches, stir in a healthy portion of aged provolone and then garnish with the lemon leaves. Apart from boosting the lemon flavor, the leaves also add a nice contrasting texture to the creamy pasta. Simply crumble the crispy leaves with your hands directly over the pasta just before serving warm on chunky pasta plates.