This is probably what Food52 would call an off-road of Deb Perelman’s Simplest Spaghetti Al Limone or what Julia Turshen would call a small victory — last night, rather than make spaghetti al limone, sugar snap peas, and salad, I make a very satisfying one-pot dinner.
8 ounces dried radiatore or penne
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
100 grams Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or Grana Padano cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
8-10 ounces of sugar snap peas
2 cups butter lettuce and radicchio, roughly chopped
Boil the radiatore in well-salted water according to package directions
While it boils, finely grate (with a rasp-style grater; here’s the most common one) the lemon zest into the large bowl you’ll use to serve your dish
Use the same rasp-style grater to grate the Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or Grana Padano cheese into the large serving bowl
Add olive oil and butter and about 1/2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper and combine them with a whisk until very well mixed and as smooth as possible
Trim the sugar snap peas and cut them lengthwise and add them to the colander that you’ll use to drain the radiatore
When the pasta reaches the ideal texture, scoop out 1 cup of cooking water, set it aside, and then drain the pasta and the water over the snap peas to just barely blanch them
Quickly turn piping hot radiatore and peas to lemon-cheese mixture in bowl and use tongs or spoons to toss it until all of the strands are coated
Add the lemon juice and I don’t find it necessary to add any reserved pasta water, but if the sauce seems think or sticky add pasta water — 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time
Finally add the roughly chopped lettuce and toss one final time