Brown Butter Fettuccine with Sage
This is a very simple, but hearty first course. You can easily substitute a plant-based alternative to butter, but it won't brown like real butter. That's OK, you'll still get the flavor, just not the color from the recipe title. I really love to use fettuccine nests, but any long, flat pasta works - tagliatelle, pappardelle, or even linguine. If you plan to use plant-based butter for a vegan guest, be sure your pasta does not have egg in it. From Bon Appetit.
Ingredients
- 8 oz fettucine
- 4½ tbsp plant-based butter or dairy butter
- 20 fresh sage leaves
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- 5 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated plus additional for serving
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to instructions being sure to salt the water. Drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add sage leaves and cook until the edges curl and the butter is dark amber, about 6 minutes. Stir and turn the leaves occasionally. Watch the butter carefully so it does not burn. Note that plant-based butter does not brown like real butter, so just cook for 6 minutes or so.
- Transfer the sage leaves to a paper towel and add vegetable broth to the browned butter.
- Add pasta and 5 tbsp of the parmesan cheese to the brown butter mixture in the skillet; toss to coat, adding reserve cooking liquid as needed if it is too dry. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with the sage leaves.
Notes
To keep this recipe vegan and/or lactose free, be sure to use plant-based butter and a plant-based parmesan cheese alternative, or just leave the parmesan cheese on the side and let guests add as desired.