Spiced Pasta

I have two words for you. Brown. Butter. When put together, they produce total heaven. Now, I won't claim that they produce the most nutritious or healthy kinds of foods. I won't even claim that they should be eaten with any regularity, but every so often, they are truly wonderful.


So, this particular recipe is for spiced pasta. It's egg noodles covered with a brown-butter based (say that 5x fast!) spice mixture and paired with some lightly cooked asparagus and topped with some toasted nuts. Like the previous recipe, this is a perfect meal for a busy weeknight. It comes together in less than 30 minutes, it's satisfying and balanced and spicy and delicious. Don't let the ingredient list get you down. Most of these spices are pretty common, and you absolutely do not need to follow the recipe to the letter. Let your creativity, spice cabinet and taste buds be your guides! This recipe originally came from the lovely 101 Cookbooks, but I've modified it a bit. I hope you love it even half as much as I do!

So, on with the recipe:


Ingredients

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 3-5 shallots, chopped (I find a quick spin in the food processor works wonders, once you have trimmed the shallots and taken off the papery outside)
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. salt, plus a bit more for salting the pasta water
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 lb. dried egg pasta
• 1/2 lb. asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch long pieces
• 1/2 c. walnuts, pine nuts or other nuts, toasted and chopped.

Directions

• In a small sauce pan or skillet, melt butter with olive oil. Add shallots and cook until they are golden and the butter has browned slightly.
• Stir in all the spices, salt and pepper and allow to cook together for a minute or so. Remove from heat, but keep warm.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta as the directions instruct. About 30 seconds before you are going to pour off the pasta water, throw in the asparagus and let it cook.
• Drain pasta and asparagus. Return to pot.
• Pour butter and spice mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle toasted nuts on top. Stir to distribute. Taste and adjust spices as necessary.

Enjoy!

Until our next dinner,

ceh.