Gigli Pasta with Lemon and Capers
Who doesn’t love a big bowl of pasta tossed in a lemon garlic butter sauce and served with tangy and crispy fried capers on top??
This pasta with lemon and capers recipe is so delicious and is ready to serve in just 30 minutes! It’s a mouthful of lemon, garlic, and butter – the holy trinity of flavors for an easy weekday dinner.
If you enjoy vegan pasta recipes, give the following recipes a try.
- vegan meal prep friendly lentil bolognese
- plant protein heavy vegan papardelle with mushroom ragu
What is Gigli Pasta?
Gigli pasta, also known as campanelle pasta, is a cone shaped pasta that is rolled into itself like a flower with edges. The term gigli is Italian for “lilies”. The bell-like shape of the pasta is fun to eat, especially for kids, and is great for scooping up sauces with every bite. Dried gigli pasta is common enough that you can find it at your local supermarket or even Trader Joe’s.
Key ingredients to make gigli pasta with lemon and capers
- Capers – once you try crispy capers you will never go back to just eating marinated capers out the jar. The crunchy texture mixed with the tangy briny note of the capers is the perfect bite. I like to pan fry on the stovetop but I’ve also baked and air-fried the capers as well.
- Lemon – this recipe only calls for juice of half a lemon but you can add more if you prefer a more acidic sauce. You can also use meyer lemons for a slightly less acidic and more sweet taste
- Vegan butter – there is no substitute for vegan butter as the butter taste is important to the recipe. Luckily more and more people are becoming vegan and plant-based so finding this in supermarkets should not be too difficult.
- Garlic – I love the combination of garlic and butter. This recipe calls for 4 cloves of garlic but you can definitely play around with the ratio and add more or less to your liking. I prefer to crush my garlic so that they are minced but have the garlic juices pressed out for cooking.
- Bread Crumbs – I toast some panko bread crumbs along with the capers for garnish on the pasta to give the pasta an extra crunch without using more capers. You don’t want the brininess of the capers to overpower the dish.
- Gigli Pasta – you can easily find dried gigli pasta at your local supermarket but it is not required as you can use any pasta type such as spaghetti or fusilli.
Serving and Storage
- Crispy fried capers and toasted breadcrumbs – I like to have these available in a small bowl on the side so people can add more or less to your liking
- Storage – allow the pasta to cool down before storing in an air tight container for 3-5 days
Gigli Pasta with Lemon and Capers
Who doesn't love a big bowl of pasta tossed in a lemon garlic butter sauce and served with tangy and crispy fried capers on top??
Ingredients
Method
- Prep the ingredients. Crush the cloves of garlic. Measure out the marinated capers and use a paper towel to dab it dry. Mince the fresh parsley. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the dried pasta based off the instructions written on the packaging.
- Toast the capers and panko. Heat a pan over medium high heat and add the vegetable oil. Once hot add the capers and let it cook in the hot oil for 2-3 minutes. Add the panko bread crumbs and stir everything together for an additional 3 minutes until the bread crumbs become a tan color. Remove from heat and let it cool.Note: you can also air fry or bake the capers and panko bread crumbs in the oven.
- Create the sauce. Heat a large pan over medium high heat and add the vegan butter. Bring the heat down to medium as the vegan butter starts to melt and add in the crushed garlic. Continue to stir the garlic in the butter for 1 minute, making sure the butter doesn't burn. Turn the heat down to low and mix in the cheese. Turn the heat off once the cheese is melted and incorporated into the sauce.
- Serve. Toss in the cooked pasta and allow the warm buttery sauce to coat the pasta. Add the juice of half a lemon. Mix in the fresh parsley and sprinkle the fried caper and toasted breadcrumbs on top before serving.
