Making any kind of dough is so soothing and therapeutic to me. The way it feels in my hands is like a stress ball that I get to squeeze. I can also get out any angst or aggression through kneading and rolling it out. Those feelings double when it is pasta dough I’m making. There’s something so beautiful about a sheet of fresh pasta dough and cutting it into shapes. I still remember fresh pasta hanging all over my Nana Lulu’s kitchen, so it definitely comes from that. This week I wanted to make a light and summery pasta dish, so I came up with an incredible fresh lemon caper spaghetti!
Oh my goodness, this dish made me one happy woman. The spaghetti was so tender and the sauce was perfectly light and flavorful. It was a fantastic pairing. I served it with a big salad for a light, vegetarian summer supper. Hope you all love it as much as we did here! xoxo
Fresh Lemon Caper Spaghetti
Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
2 hrs
This fresh lemon caper spaghetti is so bright with flavors and light for hot nights. The homemade spaghetti really sends it over the top!
Course: Main Course
Keyword: Fresh Lemon Caper Spaghetti, Spaghetti
Servings: 4
Calories: 764 kcal
Ingredients
FOR THE SPAGHETTI
- 11 ounces all-purpose flour plus additional as needed for bench flour
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 pinch salt
FOR THE LEMON CAPER SAUCE
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 leaves fresh basil rolled up and cut into ribbons, plus additional chopped basil for garnish
- 1 jar capers 3 ounce size
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 whole lemon, zested
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- First, make the pasta dough. Pour out the flour onto a clean work surface and form it into a large well. Add the eggs and salt into the well, then use a fork to beat the eggs while incorporating the flour. Once it becomes a soft dough, bring it together into a ball and knead it for about 5 minutes. Then wrap it in plastic and set it aside to rest for an hour. During the hour you can prep the ingredients for the sauce.
- Once the hour is up, set up your pasta roller. Cut the dough in half and use a rolling pin to make the first half thin enough to go through the roller. Put it through the roller several times until it is fine enough for you to almost see your hand through it. It will get extremely long, so you will need to cut it in half during the process to make it manageable. Once both halves are completely rolled out, cut them each in half to be the perfect length for spaghetti. Repeat the process again with the other half of dough.
- Set up your spaghetti cutter attachment now, or you can hand cut it if you wish. Put each of the rolled out pieces of dough through the cutter. Toss the spaghetti in a generous sprinkling of flour so that it doesn't stick to each other. Cover it with a towel so that it doesn't dry out and set it aside. Get a large pot of water on the stove to boil and salt it generously. While it comes to a boil, make the sauce.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet with deep sides over medium high heat. Add the garlic, fresh basil and capers with their brine, and let them become fragrant for a minute. Then add the lemon juice and lemon zest and let the sauce gently simmer on lower heat for 6-8 minutes to develop flavor. The pasta water should be boiling by now. Add the spaghetti and let it cook for just a minute. It should float to the top quickly. Scoop it right out with a mesh strainer and toss it into the pan of sauce. Toss it all together really well for 30 seconds, then take it off the heat. Serve immediately with extra fresh basil on top.
Nutrition Facts
Fresh Lemon Caper Spaghetti
Amount Per Serving (1 bowl)
Calories 764 Calories from Fat 485
% Daily Value*
Fat 53.9g83%
Saturated Fat 8.5g53%
Cholesterol 123mg41%
Sodium 640mg28%
Potassium 87mg2%
Carbohydrates 59g20%
Fiber 2.7g11%
Sugar 3.4g4%
Protein 12.4g25%
Calcium 20mg2%
Iron 3.4mg19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Looks so good!
Thank you so much!!
This is beautiful in so many ways!! First, I wish I had a plate of it RIGHT NOW!!? Second, I LOVE that you made the noodles and really want to learn how to do that. Finally, I love that you are doing what your grandmas did!! The site is beautiful, so glad I found it.
Oh wow, I really appreciate that so much! It means a lot. I hope you love the recipe and try out making your own pasta, let me know how it goes!! 🙂
I love capers and I”m always looking for ways to use them. What a great idea to use them in spaghetti!
Thank you so much!!
As an Italian, I must say that this pasta is made to perfection! Maybe because of the size and shape, I would personally call it fettuccine or tagliolini but that’s just semantics. It looks delicious and the recipe is very detailed 🙂 I’m sure it tasted even better than it looks in the pictures (you can see from the dough and the pasta that it’s great)
Oh thank you very much! Yeah, my spaghetti cutter attachment makes it a little flatter than normal spaghetti for some reason, but it’s not nearly as wide as fettuccine. It might be closer to tagliolini. Either way, it’s just really fun to make fresh pasta. So glad you enjoyed the post!! 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious! Definitely pinning this to my food board for another day 🙂
Oh, thank you!! I hope you love the recipe 🙂
Looks delicious! And you made pasta from scratch. Impressive!
Thank you very much!!
it says 1 cup of oil, this seems excessive, is this the actual recipe for the sauce or an error. like to make this tonight
Hi! Yes, it’s correct. With the pasta, it is just enough to coat it, plus the lemons and capers cut through it so it doesn’t seem so oily. This is basically a glorified aglio olio sauce.