The lemon tagliatelle I know originally started out as tagliatelle with prosciutto. Later, they became tagliatelle with lemon and prosciutto, and, more often than not, just with lemon and without prosciutto.
I’ll share with you the recipe I know, which some people from Bologna call alla Romagnola, a home-style dish widespread in Bologna and the Romagna area.
This dish is part of my family tradition. However, my grandmother used strettine more often than tagliatelle and never used tagliolini.
Strettine are tagliatelle that are slightly narrower than the 7 mm of traditional Bolognese and Romagnola tagliatelle but wider than tagliolini, which are 4 mm.
And even though it’s not a codified recipe, it has its own rules. No onion or shallot; the recipe doesn’t start from a classic soffritto. At least not for me. I smiled when I read in a Bolognese cookbook that this is the purists’ choice. I don’t consider myself a champion of tradition; I’m just someone who cherishes her memories, including culinary ones. For me, the sauce calls for butter, prosciutto (sweet and fatty, mind you), a little grated lemon zest, and the pasta cooking water.
This version skips the soffritto. Melt the butter and cook the diced prosciutto for a couple of minutes, not too long.
Choose your favorite type of tagliatelle and try this pasta dish; you’ll find it surprisingly delicious in its simplicity.
Tagliatelle with lemon and prosciutto
I don’t know where, how, or when, but the recipe came to incorporate the flavor of citrus. This ingredient was added over time. Even today, many people prepare this recipe using only prosciutto.
My grandmother, too, used to grate a little of the lemon zest into the pan where she melted the butter. Thanks to that simple gesture, I discovered that prosciutto and lemon make a wonderful pairing that really brings out the flavor of fresh egg pasta.
So much so that today I use these ingredients in the filling for certain non-traditional tortellini that my family and friends really enjoy, especially in the summer.
And if you have a real passion for the taste of lemon, instead of grating a little zest just before serving, you can intensify the citrus aroma by preparing, if you can, lemon butter in advance (I’ll explain how to make it at the end of the recipe).
The only tip I feel I must emphasize concerns the pasta cooking water. Scoop out a cup from the pot where the tagliatelle were cooking just before the pasta is ready, and set it aside.
Tagliatelle, like all fresh pasta, absorbs the liquid from the sauce and, as a result, can end up a bit dry. For perfect tagliatelle, and to avoid adding too much butter or oil, the secret lies in the cooking water, which makes the sauce creamy and brings out the best in the tagliatelle.
You can omit the lemon or the prosciutto if you prefer.
Other recipes featuring tagliatelle:
Keep in Touch
- I write a newsletter called Kitchen Notes from Bologna, where you can find stuff about food history, culinary memories, and recipes.
- I’m on Instagram!
Tagliatelle with lemon and prosciutto
Ingredients
- 200 g of Parma prosciutto: mild, fatty, and cut into thick slices
- 3 g of lemon grated zest
- 50 g of butter, or lemon butter (I’ll explain how to make it in the tips)
- 20 g of olive oil
- 320 g of egg tagliatelle
- 100 ml of pasta cooking water
- salt for the pasta cooking water
Instructions
- Chop the prosciutto with a knife into small cubes.
- In a nonstick pan, cook just 50 g of the chopped prosciutto, without oil or butter, for a few minutes or until browned. It has to be crunchy. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- In the same pan, melt the butter in the olive oil, over low heat on a small burner, adding the lemon zest as well. If you made lemon butter, use it.
- When the butter is completely melted, add the ham and cook for one minute, keeping the heat low and using a small burner. Be careful not to overcook the ham, or it will become too salty.
- Cook the tagliatelle in a large pot of boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes after the water returns to a boil. Set aside a little of the cooking water just before draining the pasta.
- Drain the tagliatelle and place them to the pan. Sauté over medium heat on a small burner, stirring to combine with the sauce and gradually adding the reserved cooking water, a little at a time, until the sauce is creamy and not watery. Add more butter if needed.
- Serve immediately, adding a bit of crispy prosciutto to each plate and serving the grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.
Tips
- If you want to use lemon juice, add just a little to keep the sauce from becoming too sour.
- To enhance the lemon flavor, flavor the butter with lemon zest. Here’s how: mix the softened butter (taken out of the refrigerator) with a teaspoon of grated lemon zest. Return the butter to the refrigerator so it hardens and retains the zest’s aroma. Use as needed. You can prepare it a few days in advance. Don't add too much lemon zest when flavoring the butter, or the flavor will be too strong.
