Nov 25, 2013

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.

Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta | Ms. enPlace

 

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.

Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta | Ms. enPlace

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.
Pine Nut Brown Butter Pasta | Ms. enPlace

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:
pantry  IHCC
Memories by the Mile
Feeding BigThe 21st Century Housewife Hearth and Soul Blog Hop
Full Time MamaMiz Helen’s Country Cottage
 photo SimpleSupperTuesday_zps93ff0e49.jpg
My Turn for usMyMeatlessMondaysfinal smallerversion3 zpsf46d0aef

22 comments:

  1. Cooking is not my best part, and this is easy enough for me, and I just looooooooooooove this dish
    Perfect timing Michelle :)

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  2. I absolutely am in love with this pasta! Not only is it super quick, I bet it tastes fabulous! Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday. Have a great week, Michelle and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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  3. You had me at brown butter!! Looks so delicious :)

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  4. Not a fan of pine nuts but would totally take your suggestion of using pecans instead. Looks yummy!

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  5. This is definitely a super quick straight from the pantry kinda meal. We loved everything about this dish! So glad you guys liked it too.

    Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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  6. That's a great dish to make when things are hectic. Looks fabulous!

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  7. It's so true!! my focus is on tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. I told my family that I'm not cooking tonight. (but I could pull off this pasta. LOL)

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  8. Hi Michelle,
    Have seen it at Kim's and now here, it looks and sounds delicious! I love pine nuts, and this meal would be a treat as pine nuts are extremely costly over here!

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  9. This is my kind of dish. Pasta and then brown butter and pine nuts. You picked a winner. It was fun looking for quick and easy recipes.

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  10. Love your tips for keeping simple meals on the table while getting ready for all the craziness. I've had this one on my radar ever since Kim made it a few weeks ago - now I'm really wanting it. I would love to actually bathe in brown butter!!

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  11. Love your humor and yes things can get a little crazy sometimes. The brown butter and pine nuts look made for each other.

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  12. what a quick and flavorful meal!

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  13. Just stopped by, Michelle, to wish you and all your family a Happy Thanksgiving - hope you all had a wonderful and special day xo

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  14. You said it, so true....this is the time of year here when time is sucked away and I need quick but healthy recipes. It's always so busy here around Thanksgiving. I will try this recipe for sure.

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  15. I love how quick and easy this is, Michelle! I always need more of those kinds of meals in my recipe box :)

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    Replies
    1. Pinned - Thanks for linking to Freedom Fridays :)

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  16. Pinenuts and brown butter mixture sounds irresistable ! My family will love it!

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  17. I have this one tagged after seeing how good it looked when you and Kim made it! ;-) I love brown butter sauce.

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  18. A simple plate of pasta is one of my 'go to' easy meals ... this is such a nice alternative to the pasta with Parmesan, butter and herbs, which is my usual modus operandi

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  19. I love the idea of browned butter with pine nuts - what a delicious flavour! This is a great go-to pasta recipe - thank you for sharing it with us at the Hearth and Soul hop, Michelle.

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  20. If I had to choose one favorite food, it would be pasta. This looks SO good!! I love that it doesn't have tons of ingredients. Can't wait to try it!
    Thank you for linking up to Delicious Dish Tuesday last week! Can't wait to see what you share with us this week!!

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  21. This one is on my short list. VERY short list. Glad to hear it is good. But like you said, brown butter, pasta....

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Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your comments.