Recipe: Luscious Lemon And Mascarpone Pasta

Luscious Lemon And Mascarpone Pasta
Serves 2 to 4
From Joie Warner's No-Cook Pasta Sauces by Joie Warner
Chronicle Books, 1998

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
Grated zest of 1 medium lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Recommended pasta: 8 ounces penne rigate or medium shells.

Combine butter, mascarpone cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese in pasta serving bowl. Set aside to warm to room temperature or, preferably, place the bowl (be sure it's heatproof) over the pasta pot to warm the ingredients and melt the butter while heating the water. Once the water comes to a boil, remove bowl and set aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain pasta well, immediately add to sauce in bowl, and toss. Serve at once with extra parmesan cheese. Pass the pepper mill.