Thursday, February 24, 2011

Not Your Traditional Spaghetti

We tried a new pasta dish last night, Spaghetti with Portabellas, Sage and Walnuts. It was a bit hard to describe taste-wise. It was light because of the lack of sauce but then the exorbitant amount of butter that I used made it rich. The amount of butter it called for won't make any Southerners bat an eye but this might scare away all the health nuts. I plan to make this meal again but next time I might add more mushrooms which would make it a bit "meatier."

With the pasta, I had a glass of Alexander & Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon. It was cheap and good. A lot cabernets are complex and heavier but this one was lighter making it a better choice with the pasta.


Spaghetti with Portabellas, Sage & Walnuts from Fine Cooking magazine
Makes four servings




3/4 lb. dried spaghetti
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 large portabella mushroom caps, gills scraped out and discarded, caps thinly sliced and cut into 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano



Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until it’s tender but still firm to the tooth, about 9 min. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and then drain the pasta and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil and 2 Tbs. of the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the butter is melted. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re brown and tender, 4 to 5 min. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.

In the same sauté pan, melt the remaining 6 Tbs. butter over medium heat. Add the sage leaves, and cook, stirring occasionally until they darken and crisp and the flecks of milk solids in the butter are golden brown, 3 to 5 min. Return the mushrooms to the pan and pile in the walnuts, the cooked pasta, and 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Toss the pasta continuously with tongs to coat well, adding more water as needed so the pasta is moist, 1 to 2 min. (If your skillet isn’t big enough, you can toss everything together in the pasta pot.) Season with salt and pepper, mound into bowls, and sprinkle generously with the Parmigiano. Serve immediately.

No comments: