Brown Butter Pasta Recipe

Saveur: The New Comfort Food | Chronicle, 2011

Chef Gabrielle Hamilton of the New York City restaurant Prune shared this recipe for pasta, which she tosses in brown butter and pine nuts, and then tops with sunny-side-up eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and nutmeg.–David Leite

LC Pardon Us, But Your Eggs are Dripping on Your Book... Note

If you’re anything like us, you tend to devour food while you devour food magazines, books, and blogs. It’s a sort of 4-D experience. In recognition of this, we bring you this pasta recipe by Gabrielle Hamilton in conjunction with our first online LC Book Club, which features her memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef?

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Serves 4

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Ingredients

Kosher salt, to taste
8 ounces fresh pasta, such as fettuccine or tagliatelle
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup pine nuts
4 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and nutmeg, to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 4 minutes. Place a strainer over a large bowl and drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pine nuts to a bowl. Working in two batches, crack the eggs into the butter and cook, spooning butter over yolks, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. Transfer the eggs to a plate and keep warm. Add the pasta and half of the pine nuts to the skillet and toss until hot. Stir in just enough of the reserved pasta water to create a sauce, and season with salt and pepper.
3. To serve, divide the pasta among 4 plates. Top each pile of pasta with a fried egg and sprinkle everything with the remaining pine nuts and the Parmigiano-Reggiano and nutmeg.

Hungry for more? Chow down on these:

Linguine with Arugula and a Farm Fresh Egg from Arugula Files
Tarragon Walnut Brown Butter Sauce from Food Wishes
Trenette with Langoustines from Leite's Culinaria
Angel Hair Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce from Leite's Culinaria