New Year's Eve Dinner in Paris: A Delicious and Festive Tradition

As I sit here reflecting on my favorite New Year's Eve dinner traditions, one dish stands out above the rest: lemon capellini with caviar. This is a great dish to make for New Year's Eve because it's easy to prepare and requires minimal cooking time. I love that it's a simple yet elegant dish that's perfect for a special occasion like New Year's Eve.

I have made this recipe countless times, and it never fails to impress my guests. The combination of lemon zest, juice, and caviar creates a flavor profile that's both bright and rich. It's the perfect way to ring in the new year with friends and family in Paris. We love to go out for drinks, take a little tour, and then come back home to enjoy dinner at midnight. I don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen when we're having fun, so this recipe is a lifesaver.

One of my favorite parts about making this dish is the acidity from the lemons. Underneath that white pith is actually quite bitter - it's a great addition to balance out the sweetness of the butter and pasta. I also love how easy it is to prepare. The recipe calls for just two ingredients: lemon zest and juice. But don't be fooled - these two ingredients come together to create something truly magical.

Before I started making this dish, I had seen many recipes that recommended zesting lemons after juicing them. But I realized that this was actually the best way to get the most out of my lemons. So, now I always zest my lemons before juicing them. This recipe calls for the zest of two lemons and the juice of two lemons - a ratio that's perfect for creating a bright and citrusy flavor profile.

One year, I was invited to dinner at someone's house on New Year's Eve, and they were making this very dish. It turned out to be one of my favorite culinary experiences ever. After a long day at the store, I arrived at their house feeling exhausted but excited to join in on the cooking process. Before I knew it, everybody had left for the living room, and I was left alone in the kitchen, making dinner. But even though it was just me, the result was still incredibly delicious - and I got a great recipe out of it.

I've since perfected this recipe, and it's now one of my go-to dishes for special occasions like New Year's Eve. It's a simple yet elegant pasta dish that showcases the beauty of fresh citrus flavors. The combination of lemon butter and caviar is a match made in heaven - and the starch from the pasta water thickens the sauce perfectly.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is the technique involved in preparing it. I've learned from Missy Robbins, the owner of two restaurants in Brooklyn, Lilia and Missy, who are known for their incredible pasta dishes. She taught me that perfecting a pasta dish requires patience and attention to detail - and that's exactly what's needed to create this recipe.

To make the pasta dish, I start by cooking my capellini according to the package instructions. But I like to cook it for three minutes instead of four to ensure it's perfectly al dente. Then, I add the lemon butter sauce, which consists of just two ingredients: melted butter and lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons is what brings out the flavors in the pasta.

As I toss the pasta together with the lemon butter sauce, I like to add a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. But the real magic happens when I add some of the pasta water to the sauce - this helps to thicken it perfectly and creates a rich, creamy texture that's hard to resist. And just before serving, I garnish the dish with a sprinkle of lemon zest and a wedge of lemon on top.

When I present this dish to my guests, I like to twirl it around in a little circle - just like Missy Robbins does at her restaurant. It's a simple yet elegant way to showcase the beauty of the pasta, and it adds an extra touch of drama to the presentation. And when we take our first bites, the flavors come together in perfect harmony, creating a culinary experience that's truly unforgettable.

Overall, this recipe for lemon capellini with caviar is a must-try for anyone looking to create a delicious and festive New Year's Eve dinner in Paris. It's easy to prepare, elegant to present, and full of bright citrus flavors that are sure to impress even the most discerning palates.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe three things I like about lemon capellini are first it's so fast to make it's unbelievable like five minutes from start to finish second thing I like is it's three ingredients pasta lemon and butter I usually have them in the house and the third thing I like is it's great as a side dish but also if you add things like a little shrimp maybe a dollop of caviar on a special occasion it can be a main course let's go make lemon capellini okay pay attention this is like the fastest pasta I ever made so first I have a big pot of water to a rolling boil I put a lot of salt in it you want the salt to get into the pasta so it flavors it okay and next capellini one pound capellini is a little thinner than spaghetti and a little thicker than angel hair and it Cooks in like four minutes so you want to put it right into the boiling water just swirl it around and just give it a big stir and that'll keep it from sticking okay next the sauce I'm gonna believe how easy this is so it's a half a pound of butter I know it's a lot of butter but it's really good foreign s and I'm going to zest it right over the sauce because then the oils from the lemon zest get into the sauce so you just want that little bit of bright yellow around the lemon you don't want the white pith underneath because that's bitter this is a great dish I make this all the time for New Year's Eve because we love to go out have drinks have fun in Paris take a little tour and then come back and have dinner at midnight and I don't want to start making a wand complicated dish so what I do is I make this and then literally in five minutes dinner's on the table lemon capellini with a big dollop of caviar on top sounds very festive New Year's Eve in Paris doesn't it okay that's one and then one more you know I've seen so many recipes from lemons where they say okay you want to have a cup of lemon juice and then lemon zest but by the time you juice the lemons you can't zest it so always zest the lemons first before you juice them so this is going to be the zest of two lemons and then the juice of two lemons that's really one of my favorite dishes of all time it was my first book If ever can test a cookbook and I've made it ever since okay that's that now I'm going to do the juice of two lemons in fact I got this recipe on a New Year's Eve I went to somebody's house and they were making it I remember after a really long day at the store I arrived to these people's house for New Year's Eve dinner and they were cooking and I kind of joined in just to be social and the next thing I knew everybody had left for the living room and there I was making dinner forever I thought well at least I got a great recipe out of it foreign was just the best I love my little juicer okay this just goes right into the sauce two teaspoons of salt one teaspoon of pepper and just swirl that around make sure it's really nicely mixed and let's see if the pasta is ready gotta clear the decks a little bit runaway lemon so I'm just going to cook this normally it cooks for four minutes for Al Dente but what I'm going to do is cook it for three minutes and then cook it in the sauce for another minute Missy Robbins from Missy the restaurant pasta restaurant taught me this um perfect so I'm going to just lift it out let it drain a little bit but then take some of the pasta water and put it into the sauce and the starch and the pasta water thickens the sauce and then I have lots of pasta water just add back in if I need to Missy Robbins is just an incredible restaurateur in Brooklyn she owns two restaurants Lilia and Missy they both have unbelievable pasta that she makes I think this is enough pasta this is going to be so good it's basically lemon butter and pasta but the total is so much better than the sum of its parts and then I'm just going to toss it together I mean missy tosses it in the air but I'm going to be a little more conservative I don't think I'll be it'll be all over the kitchen and me if I do that so just toss it all together just keep tossing it for about a minute so all the butter and the lemon and the zest and the salt and pepper get absorbed into the pasta and then as it sits it's just going to get a little dry so I'm going to put a little pasta water in I want to make sure it's really moist you don't want it dry just toss it together I wish you could smell this it's just unbelievable that sort of fresh citrusy lemon is so good butter I mean how bad can that be okay I'm going to show you how I played it so I've got an Italian plate I thought that would be pretty and let me see if I can do it the way missy does it she takes a big thing of pasta whoa so what Missy does is twirl it on the plate and your hand so it ends up being a nice little pout I don't know hers looks better but mine's still good oh runaway lemon and then I'm gonna do a little lemon zest on the top just so you know it's lemon it's that last hit of lemon that really it really tastes when you taste the pasta and then everybody knows it's lemon and I think maybe I'm just going to do a little wedge of lemon on this plate how's that a little salt a little pepper and that's lemon capuini looks so good I may have to try it this why do I think I'm going to be wearing this by the time I'm done trying this just to twirl it around this is not my forte that's so good it's really zesty from the lemon zest and juice perfectly seasoned that's an amazing pasta it's crazy good this recipe and more can be found in the Barefoot Contessa cookbook or at barefootcontested.comthe three things I like about lemon capellini are first it's so fast to make it's unbelievable like five minutes from start to finish second thing I like is it's three ingredients pasta lemon and butter I usually have them in the house and the third thing I like is it's great as a side dish but also if you add things like a little shrimp maybe a dollop of caviar on a special occasion it can be a main course let's go make lemon capellini okay pay attention this is like the fastest pasta I ever made so first I have a big pot of water to a rolling boil I put a lot of salt in it you want the salt to get into the pasta so it flavors it okay and next capellini one pound capellini is a little thinner than spaghetti and a little thicker than angel hair and it Cooks in like four minutes so you want to put it right into the boiling water just swirl it around and just give it a big stir and that'll keep it from sticking okay next the sauce I'm gonna believe how easy this is so it's a half a pound of butter I know it's a lot of butter but it's really good foreign s and I'm going to zest it right over the sauce because then the oils from the lemon zest get into the sauce so you just want that little bit of bright yellow around the lemon you don't want the white pith underneath because that's bitter this is a great dish I make this all the time for New Year's Eve because we love to go out have drinks have fun in Paris take a little tour and then come back and have dinner at midnight and I don't want to start making a wand complicated dish so what I do is I make this and then literally in five minutes dinner's on the table lemon capellini with a big dollop of caviar on top sounds very festive New Year's Eve in Paris doesn't it okay that's one and then one more you know I've seen so many recipes from lemons where they say okay you want to have a cup of lemon juice and then lemon zest but by the time you juice the lemons you can't zest it so always zest the lemons first before you juice them so this is going to be the zest of two lemons and then the juice of two lemons that's really one of my favorite dishes of all time it was my first book If ever can test a cookbook and I've made it ever since okay that's that now I'm going to do the juice of two lemons in fact I got this recipe on a New Year's Eve I went to somebody's house and they were making it I remember after a really long day at the store I arrived to these people's house for New Year's Eve dinner and they were cooking and I kind of joined in just to be social and the next thing I knew everybody had left for the living room and there I was making dinner forever I thought well at least I got a great recipe out of it foreign was just the best I love my little juicer okay this just goes right into the sauce two teaspoons of salt one teaspoon of pepper and just swirl that around make sure it's really nicely mixed and let's see if the pasta is ready gotta clear the decks a little bit runaway lemon so I'm just going to cook this normally it cooks for four minutes for Al Dente but what I'm going to do is cook it for three minutes and then cook it in the sauce for another minute Missy Robbins from Missy the restaurant pasta restaurant taught me this um perfect so I'm going to just lift it out let it drain a little bit but then take some of the pasta water and put it into the sauce and the starch and the pasta water thickens the sauce and then I have lots of pasta water just add back in if I need to Missy Robbins is just an incredible restaurateur in Brooklyn she owns two restaurants Lilia and Missy they both have unbelievable pasta that she makes I think this is enough pasta this is going to be so good it's basically lemon butter and pasta but the total is so much better than the sum of its parts and then I'm just going to toss it together I mean missy tosses it in the air but I'm going to be a little more conservative I don't think I'll be it'll be all over the kitchen and me if I do that so just toss it all together just keep tossing it for about a minute so all the butter and the lemon and the zest and the salt and pepper get absorbed into the pasta and then as it sits it's just going to get a little dry so I'm going to put a little pasta water in I want to make sure it's really moist you don't want it dry just toss it together I wish you could smell this it's just unbelievable that sort of fresh citrusy lemon is so good butter I mean how bad can that be okay I'm going to show you how I played it so I've got an Italian plate I thought that would be pretty and let me see if I can do it the way missy does it she takes a big thing of pasta whoa so what Missy does is twirl it on the plate and your hand so it ends up being a nice little pout I don't know hers looks better but mine's still good oh runaway lemon and then I'm gonna do a little lemon zest on the top just so you know it's lemon it's that last hit of lemon that really it really tastes when you taste the pasta and then everybody knows it's lemon and I think maybe I'm just going to do a little wedge of lemon on this plate how's that a little salt a little pepper and that's lemon capuini looks so good I may have to try it this why do I think I'm going to be wearing this by the time I'm done trying this just to twirl it around this is not my forte that's so good it's really zesty from the lemon zest and juice perfectly seasoned that's an amazing pasta it's crazy good this recipe and more can be found in the Barefoot Contessa cookbook or at barefootcontested.com\n"