Brown Butter Romano Pasta

I had Spaghetti Factory's Mizithra Pasta last year for the first time. It was so incredibly delicious. I wanted to make it, but because Mizithra cheese is hard to find, I decided to make it with parmesan/romano cheese.  The result was not disappointing! It is the browned butter that gives it the nutty flavor and the parmesan/romano is a great choice! I have now made it with both cheeses and prefer the Parmesan/Romano to the Mizithra. I think everyone needs to try this recipe to really understand what I mean when I say that this pasta kicks some serious @$$!

Brown Butter Romano Pasta

1 pkg spaghetti noodles

1 cube (1/2 cup) butter

1/2 cup Parmesan/Romano cheese(or more...you can't have too much cheese, in my opinion)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp salt

salt and pepper to taste

a couple tablespoons chopped basil

cherry tomatoes (halved, optional)

Bring water to a boil. Add 1 tbsp salt, oil and garlic to the water. Add pasta and boil until pasta is cooked al dente...(about 10 minutes)

While pasta is cooking, put butter into a small saucepan over medium heat.  The solids will separate from the oil in the butter. (At this point, the oil is clarified butter, but you want to keep going). Continue to heat, watching until all the solids have separated and the oil turns carmel in color.

 Remove from heat until all solids sink to the bottom of the saucepan.  You can try to pour out only the oil (the browned butter) or you can use a coffee filter to separate the solids from the oil (that's what I did and it was much easier).

Drain pasta and transfer back into the warm pan that you boiled it in.

Pour browned butter over the pasta and toss until pasta is completely coated.  Add cheese, salt and pepper.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Garnish with chopped basil and tomatoes if you prefer.

I hope you all try this and tell me what you think!  Happy Cooking! :)