I adore Pastas. Period. Fresh home-made pastas make an appearance on our dining table atleast once a week. Until I got my own pasta maker, I depended on the packaged store bought stuff. Nothing wrong with them, but then they are over-pricy and sometimes too chalky to taste. And then my pasta maker happened, thanks to my dad and my husband who encouraged me to buy it. Ever since, pasta making has become a fun activity. I know, I cant make Spirale or Penne but who cares?! My spaghetti is silky, my lasagna is soft, and my fettuccine is perfect! Needless to say, homemade fresh pasta is very light.
My recipe for pasta dough is very simple and in fact involves only three ingredients. Do check out this post to make pasta at home – you need not necessarily need a pasta machine if you can roll your dough thin 🙂 Few days back, I saw a TV show where Pappardelle pasta was prepared. Immediately, I made a mental note to try it out. And try I did. The long silky ribbons of pasta turned out awesome! All I was left to do was make a perfect sauce to go with it.
Alfredo or Marinara sauces are great but I wanted something simple, light and tasty. Again, another TV recipe came to my rescue. Burnt butter sauce with pine nuts was the original recipe. Since I had no pine nuts, I thought of modifying it with the mushrooms I had. Only one small issue I had - the husband hates butter, even the smell of it. I was in no mood to make two different sauces and hesitantly checked with him and he was sport to try out burnt butter sauce.. Viola!! 😀 This by far has been the best pasta I ever made at home and I am sure I will keep making this many number of times again!
In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add finely chopped garlic and fry until golden brown. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add cubed mushrooms and stir fry for 1-2 mins. Add red chilli flakes and salt, cook on medium heat. Mushrooms would start leaving water. Add pepper powder and continue to cook until the mushrooms have shrunk and appear cooked. Don’t worry if there is some water from the mushrooms. Set aside.
In another pan, heat 2 tablespoon of butter on low flame. Initially, the butter would melt and then begin to turn frothy. Continue to cook on low flame until the nutty aroma of butter fills your kitchen. When the butter stops being frothy, add the cooked mushrooms to the butter.
Add dried mixed Italian herb and mix well. Prepare the pasta as per the recipe here. Once the pasta is rolled out, cut it into long ribbons of equal wirdth (1 cm). Once the pasta is cooked, toss it in the sauce.
Top the pasta with finely chopped basil and some more burnt butter (optional). Serve hot.
This sauce tastes good with any noodle type of pastas. I have used the minimum amount of butter for making this pasta, increase the quantity as desired. Fresh basil leaves add to the flavor of this simple pasta. If unavailable, can be skipped. Nuts like toasted pine nuts or walnuts can be used. The butter in the sauce can thicken up if not used immediately. My suggestion would be to get the sauce prepared and have the pasta ready so that everything can be tossed together quickly.
If you wish to get regular updates on my recipes, do follow me on Facebook @ Cooking From My Heart. You can also reach to me at [email protected] for any suggestions or queries 🙂 Taking this yummy pasta to Fiesta Friday #116. This week’s party hosts are Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Cynthia @ eatmunchlove.
