Hollandaise sauce and all its merits

I remember having a lively discussion with my aunt about all the different ways to enjoy Hollandaise Sauce; on steamed asparagus, with roast beef (granted, this would more likely be its cousin the Sauce Bearnaise), over poached eggs for breakfast or cold with hard boiled eggs at Easter Brunch. (It's a family tradition, don't ask.)

She added as an afterthought, that a friend of hers had confessed to have the habit of eating leftovers of it as pasta sauce.... We both tried picturing this and were not at all enamored of the idea. I should have made a picture of the disgusted faces.

Well, I am here to repent and recant. I had made a lemon foam sauce to go with pork chops the night before. It was simply a mixture of vegetable stock, two eggs and the juice and zest of half a lime whisked and heated over a double boiler. When this was quite firm a small amount of cold butter (50 gr.) was cut into pieces and stirred into the mixture.
This is a light version of a Hollandaise Sauce.

At lunch the next day I cooked my favorite pasta (linguine, for the record) and added a good handful of grated parmesan and some more lemon juice to the cup of leftover lime sauce.


I drained the pasta, but not too dry. The residual heat of the pasta ensures the sauce, the cheese and the pasta water come together beautifully. This is a silky, rich indulgence. I will surely make this again one day.