Brown Butter Miso Pasta

The title of this recipe is quite fitting considering all but one ingredient (two if we count pasta water and salt) are listed in its namesake. Brown Butter Miso Pasta is dressed up as its best self with a mind-numbingly easy preparation and an end result that’s creamy and full of flavor.

B

Miso Pasta

With a base of brown butter as the sauce in our miso pasta we are already starting with a foundation of true umami. Swirling in a generous amount of sweet miso doubles down on the umami and if you’ve never had this combination before it’s kind of life changing – nutty, savory, salty and sweet all in one.

From there, we simply toss fresh fettuccine in the sauce along with a generous splash of salty pasta water and plenty of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and it’s ready for the table.

A truly simple luxury I want to eat over and over again.

O

Ingredients

Butter. I like to use a salted butter here but honestly anything will do. And if you have Kerrygold, bonus points for you!

Miso. If you haven’t cooked with miso before, this is the perfect introductory recipe to warm you up to it. At its simplest explanation it’s a Japanese flavor booster made from fermented soy beans, lots of salt, sometimes a sweetener and occasionally barley or seaweed. You’ll find it in everything from soups to noodle dishes and beyond. These days you can find it at pretty much any grocery store though I’m partial to the organic varieties at Sprouts or Whole Foods.

Pasta. In keeping with the nature of a very quick to cook and prep recipe, I like to use silky fresh fettuccine noodles.

Pasta water. We have quite a few simple pasta recipes in the archives of Cooking for Keeps so if you’ve been around a while you know starchy, salty pasta water is the key ingredient in many of our pastas. It adds flavor and creaminess without the addition of cream and the innate starch in the water is a great thickener for simple sauces.

Parmesan cheese. Use the good stuff. Only Parmigiano Reggiano for us. Freshly grated as always unless your grocery store pre-grates it for you as mine does.

Let’s make Brown Butter Miso

Boil water. As aforementioned this is an incredibly quick cooking recipe so make sure everything is ready to go. Fill a medium pot of water halfway full. Bring to a boil and season generously with salt. The reason we only want to fill the pot half full is to create more starch in the pasta water. The more water you have the more diluted the starch will be and we want quite a bit since it is a main component of our sauce.

Brown the butter. Add your butter to a cold skillet. Turn the heat on medium and melt the butter. Once the butter has melted turn the heat up to medium-high. When the butter turns brown on the edges, start to swirl the pan. Continue to swirl the pan until the butter is a deep chestnut brown and smells very nutty.

Add the miso and cook the pasta. When the butter is brown remove it from the stove. Drop the pasta in the boiling water. Whisk the miso into the brown butter. Return the pan to the stove over a medium heat and cook the miso and brown butter for about 30 seconds.

Make the sauce. Use a ladle or measuring cup to take about 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water out from the boiling pasta. Slowly whisk it into the brown butter and miso mixture. Use tongs to transfer the pasta to the miso and butter mixture. Reserve the water! Toss to coat the noodles in the sauce. Sprinkle in the cheese and continue to toss until the cheese melts. Add more hot pasta water to create the desired consistency. Remember the more pasta water you add, the more salt you will also have to add. Be sure to season as you go!

Garnish. Give the pasta a sprinkle of extra parmesan. Serve with flaky maldon salt. Enjoy!

Do I have to use fresh pasta?

No! But I prefer it here. If you are making this on a Wednesday night at 10pm and all you have is dried pasta, by all means, go for it.

Can I make Miso Pasta ahead of time?

While it is delicious the next day, much of the sauce gets soaked up after you’ve prepared everything so I think fresh is best. This truly takes 15 minutes to throw together so hopefully you won’t find it necessary to prep ahead.

H