Recipe Background
Brown Butter Pasta is luxurious, with caramelized onions for depth and ready in a flash.
First there’s that dizzying feeling of post-move elation, standing in my new kitchen surrounded by a sea of boxes. That was exactly when I decided to whip up my first meal—a comforting bowl of Brown Butter Pasta. With the scent of fresh paint still in the air, I remembered the trusty onion and garlic peeking out from my last grocery bag. Something simple, yet sophisticated, felt right for a new chapter.
I’ve always kept a stash of Parmesan on hand, a habit from college days, where a sprinkle could transform a meal. It paired perfectly with the rich, nutty aroma of browning butter, an operation requiring the utmost attention to avoid burning. Adding a dash of Maldon salt, the kind that feels so satisfyingly crunchy between your fingers, elevated it beyond the ordinary. As I swirled the spaghetti with the silken sauce made with tempered egg yolks and a splash of lemon juice, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer alchemy happening in my saucepan.
The real star, as far as I was concerned, was the caramelized onion magic—a slow and patient process that pays off in deep flavor. I found that throwing the onions in a blender with the brown butter created a sauce that was smooth and dreamy beyond belief. As I tasted the pasta, garnished with a few reserved onion strands and bright basil leaves, I knew it was a recipe I’d return to, much like this newfound corner of city life. A bit quirky, a tad refined—my kind of pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large onions finely sliced
- Maldon salt to taste, can substitute sea salt
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces long pasta such as linguine or spaghetti
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shredded or grated
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- black pepper to taste
- basil leaves optional, to taste, for garnish
Directions
- In a large skillet over low heat, add the olive oil.
- Add the onions to the hot oil and season them with the salt.
- Cook the onions, while stirring occasionally, until they are golden and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Set the onions aside.
- In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, while stirring constantly, until it stops foaming, turns light amber in color, and smells nutty, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to let the butter burn.
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, add the pasta and cook it to al dente, according to the package directions.
- In a bowl, add the egg yolks, the parmesan, the lemon juice, and the black pepper and whisk to combine.
- While whisking constantly, add a small amount of the hot pasta water to the egg yolk mixture, a little at a time, until the eggs are tempered.
- In a blender, add almost all of the caramelized onions, reserving a few for garnish if desired, the browned butter, and a splash of the pasta water and cover the blender.
- Blend the onion mixture until creamy.
- Drain the pasta.
- Add the onion sauce and the egg mixture to the pasta and stir and toss to combine. Make sure to do so quickly while the pasta is still hot so the tempered eggs in the egg mixture can cook into a creamy component of the sauce.
- Taste the pasta mixture for seasoning and add the salt and the black pepper, as needed.
- Serve garnished with the reserved caramelized onions and the basil leaves.
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