Pasta With Brown Butter and Parmesan

Pasta With Brown Butter and Parmesan
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
25 minutes
Rating
4(2,275)
Notes
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Sometimes you just want a big bowl of pasta with butter and Parmesan. Starchy, silky and salty, it’s always good — and practically foolproof. To make it a little more grown up, just take it one step further: Brown the butter. When you slide the butter into the skillet, let it cook until the milk solids turn a toasty brown. It adds a rich, nutty flavor that makes the dish a bit more sophisticated with very little extra work.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • Kosher salt
  • 1pound spaghetti, linguine or other long noodle
  • 8tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
  • Freshly ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

786 calories; 37 grams fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 82 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 30 grams protein; 466 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of heavily salted water (2 heaping tablespoons kosher salt to about 7 quarts water) to a boil. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta, but don’t shake it fully dry.

  2. Step 2

    In a skillet or Dutch oven large enough to hold the pasta (and preferably with a light-colored bottom so you can see the butter solids brown), melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the foam subsides, the milk solids turn golden-brown and it smells nutty and toasty, 3 to 4 minutes. (Watch carefully to see that it does not burn. If it does, start over.) Remove from heat immediately.

  3. Step 3

    Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and toss with the brown butter. Stir in the cheese until melted. Stir in pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the pasta is glossy with sauce (you probably won’t need the full ½ cup).

  4. Step 4

    Serve with black pepper and more Parmesan on top.

Ratings

4 out of 5
2,275 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

What is this seasoning salt with olives and rosemary - brand? source? Sounds amazing! Thanks!

I found this recipe to be highly addictive. It was easy to make, and I'm sure it will continue to undermine my intention to lose some weight. I have an excellent seasoning salt from Italy that contains olives and rosemary and is packaged in a grinder. It gave this dish great flavor. Next time I make it I will include the garlic.

Wilt some spinach into this or a little bit of steamed broccoli rabe - divine!

If you can find it in your area. try Mizithra Cheese-- it's a Greek cheese and pasta with "burnt butter" as we call it in Greek, is a staple dish with Mizithra Cheese.

The same simple procedure can be prepared using spaghetti squash, zucchini or yellow squash spirals. The brown butter is an easy way to add depth to a dish.

I threw asparagus (Veg!! Horrors! Cringe!) cut on the bias into bite sized pieces into the pasta water before adding the pasta. Pulled it out, drained it, and added it back to the dish at the end. Sublime. You could use broccoli, peas, green beans, anything you fancy or have around.

My wife made this fairly often with Mizithra cheese instead of Parmesan. She learned it this way when she waitressed at the local franchise of The Old Spaghetti Factory many, many years ago. It's good, fast, easy, and cheap!

Seriously the lot of comments on a simple delicious dish are complaints? This is a great recipe with nuance that appears in the quick dinner section. Make it gourmet or make it with pre grated. Nice as a side or main course. Feel too full afterwards? Make smaller portions. ☺️

This is the most simple yet delicious recipe. I made it exactly as directed (I was recovering from a cold so I craved gentle comfort food), including adding the pasta water a tablespoon at a time. As with any simple recipe, all ingredients must be superb quality. A true pleasure to eat!

Fry an egg in the butter without cooking the yolk, remove the to a warm place, do the pasta thing, and serve with the egg on top.

This would be good with a healthy dose of red pepper flakes. Or sage, for that brown butter & sage thing.

There’s nothing like pasta with butter and freshly grated parmigiana. I would add a bit of grated nutmeg and some minced parsley. Heaven!

So add some greens, spinach comes to mind. But the histrionics about a defibrillator is just silly.

If you don't eat wheat, this can work just as well with brown rice pasta (the best type of gluten-free pasta, I find). It's important not to overcook any GF pasta - be sure to leave it a little al dente. Even more often than butter, I just pour some good olive oil into a bowl, add some herbs (dry or fresh), freshly ground black pepper and salt. Toss to coat thoroughly, then add the cheese and toss lightly again. One of the fastest, best and simplest of comfort foods!

You do not. The less water you use makes the sauce starchier and the dish better. This old way of cooking pasta needs to be changed in nearly all recipe.

The nutritional information appears to be for all 4 servings and not per serving?

Excellent!

Used whole wheat spaghetti, just as delicious

For the browned butter, I use the browned “dregs” from making ghee. Yum!

Perfect as is. Infinitely variable.

I don’t usually make comments but I agree about using mizithra cheese here. A Greek food store near me sells a blend of Mizithra and kefaloteri cheeses. It was sublime. The flavor had more of an intensity and nuttiness to it but not overwhelming. Added broccoli as suggested. Dangerously addictive.

My favorite go-to for a carb fix. I add fresh sliced garlic, lightly browned with the butter. For some reason, I get an added kick from the foam the garlic produces.

This was great. Added in shrimp for some proteins.

i've made this, adding lemon juice to taste as a last step. i also added some swiss chard to the pasta water. it's a fast and delicious meal....BUT i'd like to suggest the author of this (and all recipes!) include a weight for the parmesan, not just '1 cup'. it's much easier to decide how much is needed (or to buy) if we have the weight. is it 1 cup, packed or not?? i'd like the weight for ALL ingredients, actually (except salt,spices, and herbs). it's more precise, ensuring better results.

I just made this for lunch. I don't think I browned the butter enough, but it was good. Needs lots of pepper.

This was just delicious! Atop the linguine, I served baked lemon garlic shrimp with browned panko crumbs.

I add a pinch of nutmeg that warms the flavors one more level.

With two teen boys here for "Grandma Cooking Camp" we served home-made broad pasta with brown butter. Best ever.

This was my study snack all through university. Super easy, super tasty, and helped with the studying, for sure.

This recipe reminds me of cacio e pepe.

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