Prep and cook 15 min
A recipe that blends crispy aromatic sage leaves with the nutty taste of toasted garlic in a brown butter sauce, refreshed by lemon zest.
When I started Gourmet Quickies, I tried to avoid the obvious trap of reverting to pasta dishes as a quick and easy meal. Over 100 recipes later, I managed to get away with it except on two occasions. Once with Cacio E Pepe and the other with my “No Cook” Pasta Sauce.
That sauce truly needs no cooking and is one of my all time favorites. It is made with finely chopped fresh tomatoes and garlic, a generous handful of shredded basil, all soaked in a quarter cup of olive oil and seasoned with freshly ground black pepper. Served with grated parmesan, it has been my go to pasta recipe. Till now!
After three months of quarantine and with the onset of summer, spending time in the kitchen, even for half an hour, to make a sauce seems daunting. So I set myself the challenge of coming up with a sauce that can be done in the 10 minutes it usually takes to boil the water to cook the pasta.
The recipe blends crispy aromatic sage leaves with the nutty taste of toasted garlic in a brown butter sauce, refreshed by lemon zest. Served with grated parmesan, the combination is absolutely delicious and works with any pasta. Don’t skip the lemon zest- it’s essential!
Brown Buttered Pasta With Crispy Sage and Toasted Garlic
by
Derek Farwagi
Equipment
- If you have a 10” stainless steel frying pan use it. It will be easier to see the butter turn brown. If you use a black pan, by the time the garlic is toasted, the butter will be browned.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp butter
- 6-7 cloves garlic (sliced 1/8" thick)
- handfull fresh, whole sage leaves
- zest of one lemon grated
- 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- Pasta of your choice
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter over medium heat.
- When most of it is melted, add garlic slices and sage leaves and gently sauté stirring frequently.
- As soon as the garlic and butter start turning brown, ( about 2 minutes) remove from fire and set aside In the pan (They will continue to cook after you have removed them from the fire).
- Cook pasta of your choice then mix thoroughly with the sauce. Serve with freshly ground black pepper, lemon zest and Paremesan cheese.
Kate Dourian
This is a great quickie. Only challenge was finding fresh sage, which managed to get and because I didn’t want it to go to waste I made it twice in as many weeks. Even my fussy son loved it. Perfect for when you can’t be bothered to do much chopping and mincing.
Derek Farwagi
Thank you Kate. Glad you were able to get the Sage.