THE EASIEST PASTA DINNER YOU'LL EVER MAKE

Herald spring with this light, lemony supper for six (plus, an Easter Menu!).

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Hello!

I’m writing you fresh with the sun on my skin from a week in Mexico with my parents—a dream drip and a real blessing to travel together during the last two spring breaks. For adults who live and are raising their children 800 miles from their parents, time together is precious and fleeting; I will never take it for granted.

I promise to return soon to chat with you about plate after plate of mole, chicken with Pipian sauce, enchiladas, chilaquiles, and especially pozole, which we ate a lot of (in many different forms) for lunches, dinners, and even breakfast. Long live the savory breakfast—there were many of them in Mexico.

On the trip, we also celebrated Mátyás’ ninth birthday. I don’t even feel like myself writing that sentence. Forever, he was the toe-headed baby with curled golden locks who never wanted to leave my side—in the kitchen, in the garden, and out in the world. But nine is a very different universe. He’s wildly independent and broad-chested with a head of thick (but now short) hair three shades darker than before. Still, his big brown puppy eyes melt me.

I hadn’t intended to write to you about birthdays, except that between the literally dozens of plates of steak tacos Mátyás devoured last week, he ordered pasta—buttered pasta with parmesan—for his birthday dinner. After all, isn’t pasta often the most satisfying thing? (Side note: at that meal, we also had the perfect Caesar salad; did you know the Caesar salad was invented in Mexico?).

I love all kinds of pasta, but pasta with seafood in it is tops for me—it harkens to all my best vacations, and Italy, Croatia, and the seaside fantasies that carry me through to spring.

Friends, we are finally here! The first days, you can open your windows and feel the breeze. The first days you no longer want to be inside simmering sauces and stews. No more stews. Instead, maybe you’re prepping for Easter dinner (see menu below). Maybe you’re planting your garden. Or, like me, just back from vacation, and you need a little ease while still hitting all those notes that offer gentle luxury, my favorite kind. This dish offers both (See: butter).

It must be said that I learned this dish from Ina Garten on Instagram. I never make recipes I see on Instagram, as alluring as many of them are. I have a bookmark tab called recipes a thousand deep that look delicious or healthy or brilliant or curious that I aim, one day, to return to. But mostly, they fly right out of my head with the deluge of constant content. Further, many of them require shopping and tiresome prep.

This recipe felt different. I couldn’t remember where I bookmarked the recipe (still can’t), but I could remember Ina putting two whole sticks of butter into a pan (check: two sticks!). I could remember her zesting and juicing two whole lemons (there are always lemons in my fridge), then adding in a box of cooked spaghetti and some pasta cooking water, clinging from the long strands. I could remember her big smile as she dug in.

When I made it from memory, a day or two later, I used bucatini instead of spaghetti because I love the chewy mouthfeel and the way it laps up the sauce. Also, I added shrimp and chile flakes, but it still delivered what she promised: a bright pop of lemon and buttery in the best way.

Years and years ago—ions now, I worked on Ina’s second or maybe third cookbook, Barefoot in Paris, in her home on Long Island. I was the assistant to the food stylist on the photo shoot, and we spent a week in her home prepping and providing beautiful food to match her recipes. I got to listen to her laugh, hear her Jeffrey stories, and eat lunch in her beautiful garden. Later, when I ran into her in the market in Paris when I was living there (and, she was shooting the Paris part of Barefoot in Paris), she greeted me with the same warmth and kindness you’d expect. She really is the most darling of all—and no stranger to butter.

So here it is when you need to indulge but don’t have the time or budget for the grander kind of refineries. This plate of pasta is here for you. I’m adding this simple dish to a casual Easter Meal I’m serving on Saturday for dear friends—for the pescatarian part of our crew. (The rest of our EASTER MENU is below, with links to the recipes in case you’re still planning.)

Thank you, friends, for your grace in my absence this last week. I’ll be back with lots more recipes and articles and an insider's guide to Mexico in the weeks ahead, with extras for paid subscribers — as always.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, and Happy Easter.

xx

Sarah

This letter wouldn’t be possible without YOU! Thank you for being here and enormous thanks to all who choose to support my work with a paid subscription.

LEMON BUCATINI WITH SHRIMP AND CHILE FLAKES