That was a great vacation, but driving over 3,000 miles with 5 people in a little Prius is not exactly relaxing and we are so glad to be home in our own beds (and kitchen!) again!
As much as I wanted to crawl straight into my bed when we got home yesterday, I had kiddos to feed and clean, and laundry and unpacking to do.
At least the feeding part was painless, since I went for one of our favorite standbys...
This meal is one of our ultimate comfort foods. Noodles of any shape or size tossed in a delicious, toasty browned butter sauce with lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
(Sometimes with toasted pine nuts and fresh basil for the adults!)
I used to always just stir a pat of butter into the kiddos' noodles, but this browned butter treat is much more decadent with hardly any more work, and I get just as excited about having it for dinner as my kids do!
Try this next time you are cooking for a picky crowd, or just want to throw something super simple together for dinner. You may never go back to plain buttered noodles again!
Pasta with Browned Butter and Parmesan Recipe
serves 4-8, depending on appetites!
Ingredients:
1 pound pasta
1/2 cup butter
freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper, to taste
Directions:
Cook the pasta according to package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium skillet (light colored works best here so you can see the color of the butter easier, but it's not necessary!) over medium heat.
Let the butter continue to cook, stirring or swirling occasionally and watching closely until it is filled with golden brown bits and smells toasty and fragrant. Pull the pan off the heat before it burns!
Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Pour the browned butter over the noodles, dump in a generous amount of freshly grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve immediately with a bit more parmesan sprinkled on top!
