Peel and slice one large fresh clove of garlic and roughly or finely chop some fresh parsley.
Roll one lemon on a countertop with firmness so that it's easier to juice.
Make homemade pasta by mixing three eggs and a little pinch of kosher salt into a mountain of flour, kneading it continuously for seven to 10 minutes until it springs back when poked, and letting it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling it out to a thickness of about one millimeter.
Cook the pasta in just about as little water as possible just enough to cover it, stirring it around when initially dropping into the pot so that it does not stick together.
Into a high walled saute pan goes a few glugs of high quality olive oil, about a teaspoon of chili flakes, the zest of one lemon, and a couple of twists of freshly ground black pepper. Cook for about three to five minutes.
Once the garlic is just lightly blonde not browned, start dumping in the very al dente pasta. This pasta is about a minute two minutes shy of its recommended cooking time.
Add either the juice of one half or one whole lemon depending on how lemony you want things to get, a nice extra glove of extra virgin olive oil, about a quarter cup of our chopped parsley, maybe two to three ounces of finely grated Parmesan cheese, and the single most important ingredient our still boiling pasta cooking water starting with about a quarter cups worth and adding as necessary.
Add a little splash of pasta water at a time, give it a vigorous stir and see how it looks. Is it too thick? Add more pasta water. Is it too thin? Add some more cheese.
Once you've hit the sweet spot, this should take no more than one to two minutes. It's time to twist up and serve.
Garnish simply with a little bit of extra freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a sprinkle of parsley, and some bonus grated lemon zest.
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