# Pasta, butter, Parm. Cheese?



## giggler (Dec 7, 2012)

A Dear friend of mine went to Venice for his Honeymoon..

He's a Foodie, so I asked Him about the food..

He said, "I had a lot of great food, but the best was Spagheti, butter, and Cheese"

I thought, You've got to be joking..but now I met a Greak Friend who says, His Mother made this, Brown the Butter first..

I want to try this, but the recipes I saw are All Over..

Melt the butter? Don't? Brown? add Herbs? Basil, or Sage or even Nutmeg?

Thanks, Eric, Austin Tx.


----------



## Snip 13 (Dec 7, 2012)

I often make fresh pasta with browned butter, a bit of crushed garlic and shavings of parmesan. Delicious!

Make it to your taste. Italian and Greek families use a butter and cheese combo on pasta. Some add garlic, herbs and different kinds of cheese.
I prefer using fresh pasta since it tastes much better than dried when using simple sauces.


----------



## CraigC (Dec 7, 2012)

We often use a brown butter and fresh sage sauce for butternut squash ravioli.


----------



## Zhizara (Dec 7, 2012)

How do you brown butter, Craig?


----------



## CraigC (Dec 7, 2012)

Zhizara said:


> How do you brown butter, Craig?


 
You let it go until it starts to brown. We do it in a saute pan over med-high heat. You have to be careful as it will go from brown to burnt quickly.


----------



## BigAL (Dec 7, 2012)

That is alfredo sauce, according to Mario Batali  
Brown butter would be even better!


----------



## pacanis (Dec 7, 2012)

I love pasta and butter, cheese or no cheese, herbs or no herbs. I've been eating it since I was a kid.


----------



## CharlieD (Dec 7, 2012)

Snip 13 said:


> I often make fresh pasta with browned butter, a bit of crushed garlic and shavings of parmesan. Delicious!
> 
> Make it to your taste. Italian and Greek families use a butter and cheese combo on pasta. Some add garlic, herbs and different kinds of cheese.
> I prefer using fresh pasta since it tastes much better than dried when using simple sauces.


 
+1, enything frsh tastes better. But even store bought noodles taste great when served like that. I love it. Do it quite often.


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 7, 2012)

You may be interested in this *excellent* recipe from our jusnikki. The butter could be browned if you want it that way, but the recipe as written is remarkable and I've made it many, many times with wonderful results.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/pasta-in-butter-garlic-sauce-75433.html


----------



## Zhizara (Dec 7, 2012)

CraigC said:


> You let it go until it starts to brown. We do it in a saute pan over med-high heat. You have to be careful as it will go from brown to burnt quickly.



Thanks!


----------



## chopper (Dec 7, 2012)

We used to have egg noodles with butter and black pepper when I was a kid. It was because we didn't have anything else to eat for lunch, but it sure was good!  Now and then I like to have that now, only I do have a little parmesan cheese with it and maybe some green beans.


----------



## no mayonnaise (Dec 7, 2012)

Protip: Add a little dried milk powder to your butter before it browns.

The part of the butter that browns are milk solids, which is what milk powder happens to be.  More solids = more brown butter flavor.

Great for cornbread too.

In my opinion when using fats like butter or olive oil for a sauce, they need something acidic to cut through it and brighten it up.  So I usually add a small squeeze of lemon juice at the very end.  Not enough to make it taste like lemon, but just enough to brighten up the dish and cut through the richness of the fat to make it not taste so one-note.  YMMV.

I think minced flat leaf parsley tossed in at the end is pretty good with rich pasta dishes (except some cream-based ones), but I think if it's pasta/butter/cheese then additional herbs might take over the flavor of a simple dish too much unless you add something else to the dish.  That's just my opinion.


----------



## Addie (Dec 8, 2012)

CraigC said:


> You let it go until it starts to brown. We do it in a saute pan over med-high heat. You have to be careful as it will go from brown to burnt quickly.


 
Always keep in mind though the residual heat even after you take it off the stove. It will continue to brown if left sitting in the pan.


----------



## LPBeier (Dec 8, 2012)

This is one of my favourite pasta dishes.  While I have done it with browned butter, I prefer to use melted butter then add the parmesan and fresh cracked black pepper.  

Alas, at the moment I can't eat pasta, butter or cheese!   But the sacrifice is for a good cause - a more pain free life!


----------



## Kylie1969 (Dec 8, 2012)

Kayelle said:


> You may be interested in this *excellent* recipe from our jusnikki. The butter could be browned if you want it that way, but the recipe as written is remarkable and I've made it many, many times with wonderful results.
> 
> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/pasta-in-butter-garlic-sauce-75433.html



Thanks Kay, this one looks good!


----------



## CraigC (Dec 8, 2012)

Addie said:


> Always keep in mind though the residual heat even after you take it off the stove. It will continue to brown if left sitting in the pan.


 
Thats why it goes over the pasta when it is ready.


----------



## Addie (Dec 8, 2012)

CraigC said:


> Thats why it goes over the pasta when it is ready.


 
Craig, we always have newbies here that wouldn't know about residual heat.


----------



## Cerise (Dec 8, 2012)

giggler said:


> A Dear friend of mine went to Venice for his Honeymoon..
> 
> He's a Foodie, so I asked Him about the food..
> 
> ...


 
Re the spaghetti, butter & cheese, the first thing that comes to mind is Aglio e olio. Oil and butter can be used interchangably or together. Depends on the restaurant's "recipe." The topping can be parmesan, parm-reg., pecorino, or whatever you fancy. 

Re browned butter, I use same for (pumpkin) ravioli or gnocchi w/ sage.

What puts a dish over the top, for me, is using the best & freshest ingredients, i.e. homemade pasta (cooked al dente) fresh cheese ( i.e. parm-reg etc.), & fresh herbs.


----------

