Butter Parmesan Pasta
A silky butter Parmesan pasta made with nutty brown butter, finely grated Parmesan, and starchy pasta water for the glossiest 10-minute sauce.
Servings: 2 people
Equipment
- 1 medium pot (for cooking the pasta)
- 1 large skillet (for making the sauce)
Ingredients
- 200 grams dried pasta (I recommend a long shape, see notes)
- 100 grams butter (I use salted)
- 10 sage leaves (optional)
- 50 grams Parmesan cheese very finely grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Boil your pasta
- Bring a medium pot of well salted water to the boil and cook the pasta, undercooking by a minute. Reserve at least 1 cup of pasta water before draining.You can do this at the same time as browning the butter.
Brown the butter
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. When it starts to sizzle, add the sage leaves. (If you don’t have a light coloured pan, you can brown the butter in a saucepan instead, it can be easier to see the colour change.)
- Keep cooking, swirling the pan often so the butter browns evenly.
- It will bubble with big, loud crackles at first, turn the heat down if it’s cooking too quickly.
- The bubbles and noise will settle and a layer of foam will form on top.
- Keep swirling the pan, this gives you a peek at the colour underneath the foam. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.
- Watch for the milk solids on the bottom to turn golden brown (not black). Remember it will keep cooking off the heat.
- As soon as the specks look golden and smell nutty, remove the pan from the heat and pour into a bowl to stop it cooking.
Finish the sauce
- When the pasta only has 2-3 minutes left, return the butter to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. I like to add ½ teaspoon black pepper at this stage.
- Add ⅓ cup pasta water, whisking quite vigorously. Let it gently bubble for a minute or two, whisking every so often. It should thicken slightly.
- At any point drain your pasta if it is ready and just reserve a cup of water.
- Add the cooked pasta into sauce with another ¼ cup of pasta water and toss well, letting it bubble together for 30 seconds.
- Turn the heat to the lowest possible and sprinkle the cheese on the top in an even layer.
- Let the cheese melt gently on top for 1-2 minutes undisturbed. It doesn't need to fully melt. The video below will help!
- With tongs quickly swirl the pasta around and around in a circle until it creates a beautiful glossy sauce.
- Season to taste (this depends on your butter) and serve with the crispy sage leaves on top.
- A squeeze of lemon and some lemon zest on top is a lovely touch.
Notes
Pasta shapes - Long shapes like spaghetti, linguine or fettuccine work best for this method because they spin easily with tongs.
Parmesan - For the smoothest sauce, grate the Parmesan very finely. I blitz mine in a blender to a powder. Pre-grated cheese won’t melt properly in this recipe.
Butter - Salted butter adds great flavor, but unsalted works too. Adjust seasoning depending on what you use.
Pasta water - Use a smaller pot than usual so the water stays nice and starchy, this is essential for a glossy emulsified sauce. Check out my pasta cooking guide for the perfect pasta, salt, water ratio!
Heat level - Once the Parmesan goes in, keep the heat low. Too much heat can make the pasta stick to the bottom of your pan.
Sage - Optional but recommended. Frying the leaves in the butter adds great flavor and a delicious crunchy topping.