Brown Butter Pasta FAKE DELETE LATER

Ingredients

• 200g spaghetti or linguine
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• ½ tsp chili flakes
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Parmesan, generously grated
• Fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until just under al dente — it’ll finish in the pan.
2. Reserve a full cup of pasta water before draining.
3. In a wide pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Let it foam, then continue cooking, swirling occasionally, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty — about 4–5 minutes. Watch it closely; it goes from brown to burnt fast.
4. Add garlic and chili flakes. Cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
5. Add the drained pasta to the pan with a splash of pasta water. Toss vigorously, adding more water as needed to emulsify into a glossy sauce.
6. Off heat, add lemon zest, parmesan, and parsley. Toss again. Season to taste.

Notes

• The pasta water is everything here — starchy, salty, and warm, it’s what turns butter into a sauce.
• Brown butter is done when it smells like hazelnuts. If it smells sharp or acrid, it’s burnt — start over.
• This works with almost any long pasta. Rigatoni or similar short pasta won’t cling as well.
• A heavy-bottomed pan (not nonstick) gives you better browning and more fond to work with.