Under 30 Minutes and Practically from the Pantry {Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta}

Well, it's that time of year again.  Time to focus on the handful of meals that will suck up all of your money, energy, and time.

Will all other meals fall aside, getting lost in that annoying crack between the stove and counter top?  Will your family be left to raid the fridge for scraps?  Depend on drive-thru for the next month or so?

Nah.  There are great every-day meals to be had this time of year for little effort.
Only a little planning ahead needed.

 

Some of my tricks for handling the day-to-day meals while freaking out about preparing the big, fancy ones:

• Before the holidays start, make double batches of what you are cooking.  Freeze the second batch for when things get chaotic.  Because they will.  They so will.
• Rotisserie chickens are your friends.  Let someone else cook the base of the meal.  You build it up into an easy casserole, pasta dish, or quesadillas.
• Keep a list of your quick (30ish min) dishes at the ready.  
• Likewise, keep a list of meals you can make from your pantry.  And keep your pantry stocked.

This Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta from Donna Hay's Off the Shelf fills two of the points above.  It can be made in less than 30 minutes and most of the ingredients are from the pantry or things you probably have in your fridge.

We all liked this dish.  I mean, what's not to like about brown butter?

The nutty flavor from the browned butter and pine nuts and the richness from the butter reminded us of trout or green bean amandine, which leads me to believe that if you don't like, don't have, or don't want to fork out the cash for pine nuts, almonds--or even pecans--could be used instead.

I loaded the pasta down with black pepper and added some chopped parsley for a spark of freshness.

Print It!

Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta
from Donna Hay

1 lb fettuccine
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup pine nuts
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan

Cook fettuccine according to package directions.

While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a skillet over low heat.  Stir in the pine nuts.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is browned and pine nuts are golden.

Drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour in the butter-pine nut mixture.  Add the parsley to the bowl.  Toss well.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.


Linking with: