rango shut up (blog).

a brown butter pasta recipe.

Hello. This is my recipe for brown butter pasta. If you do not know what this dish is, do not fret, for I shall enlighten you. Brown butter pasta is pasta tossed in a sauce, made by heating a crap ton of salted butter in a pan until the milk solids separate and the butter starts to brown. This sauce has a rich, nutty, and salty flavour, and is criminally simple to make for a weeknight dinner or lunch. It's one of my favourite dishes, next to butter chicken and Fudgee-O's.

the brown butter backstory.

Because recipe websites always have a bunch of useless background information, I guess I'm going to do that too before we jump into the actual recipe--just without the obnoxious mountain of pop-up ads and videos (No, I do not want a new all-electric Cadillac).

I was first introduced to brown butter pasta at the age of 7-ish. My eternal love for this simple, easy pasta dish began at an Italian family restaurant chain that shall not be named. As a picky eater (that I still am), I didn't want anything on the menu. I threw a hissy fuss about it, until a very kind and patient waiter suggested this pasta as an alternative. At the time, I did not know that this dish was called brown butter pasta. It was simply pasta to me; the pasta of all pastas, the only pasta to ever exist in my prepubescent mind because no other pasta could surpass it.

You can probably imagine the confusion on other people's faces when I didn't know what this pasta was actually called, and had to frantically, clumsily explain it to waiters and hosts at dinner parties. My efforts were futile; no one could figure out what I was requesting. I did not know the pasta, and perhaps it didn't know me either. The flavour of my favourite childhood meal had faded from my tongue, and I didn't know how to recreate it, how to call it home to me.

That was my reality for years, deprived of brown butter pasta because I didn't know its glorious name, until the ripe age of 13 when a waiter at some high-end restaurant understood what I meant; "ah, you mean brown butter pasta?". Thank you greatly, sir. I do not remember your name, but I do remember you had very large biceps under your black dress shirt, that you called me "champ" or something, and that you helped me find buttery salvation.

And then, when I gained basic cooking skills and free will as a young adult, I decided to make this dish for myself and put my own spin on it. Frankly, I don't know if you'll enjoy this. The friends I've cooked this for enjoy it, but it's very, very self-indulgent and specifically suited to my tastes. Try it anyway, if you want.

Okay, enough of my yapping, let's get into it.

the actual recipe.

the ingredients. (serves 2-3 people)

the process.

  1. Gather your stuff, and measure out your ingredients. Mince 4-6 cloves of garlic.
  2. Boil a pot of salted water. Cook your pasta as indicated by the instructions on the box (or by your best guess). Strain it once finished.
  3. NOTE: Timing is crucial for this recipe. This butter sauce should be made simultaneously as the pasta boils and takes about 4 minutes to cook, so take that into consideration while timing these parts.
  4. As the pasta cooks, heat 6-7 tablespoons of salted butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
  5. Stir the butter as it foams. In 2-4 minutes, you should see brown bits begin to form at the bottom of the pan. MAKE SURE YOUR BUTTER DOESN'T BURN (!!!), adjust your heat as necessary.
  6. When you see those brown bits appear, stir in 1/4 cups of breadcrumbs/panko for about 1-2 minutes.
  7. Stir in garlic and 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes, and cook for 30 seconds.
  8. Turn off your heat and add in your pasta. Coat the pasta well. Add your seasoning and grated parmesan cheese.
  9. Enjoy your brown butter pasta :)