Old Spaghetti

Years ago I went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland, Oregon with some of my family.  My brother Jeff had been there before and recommended the Spaghetti with Burnt Butter.  It was even better than he described.  For years I've tried to find a recipe that adequately mimicked the meal we had that day. And I have failed miserably in my own attempts to recreate it. It came to mind again recently so I did another search.  You can't know how excited I was not just to find a recipe, but one that even references the Old Spaghetti Factory!  I found this at www.cdkitchen.com.

Old Spaghetti Factory's Spaghetti with Burnt Butter

Serves/Makes:   4

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter
1 cup Mizithra cheese
pasta of choice

DIRECTIONS:

Browned Butter Procedure: Cut butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and place in a 2-quart sauce pan. Place the pan of butter on a burner on medium heat. Bring butter to a slow boil (about 5 minutes).

Once the butter begins to boil, stir constantly to prevent residue from sticking to the bottom of the pan. As the butter cooks, it will start to foam and rise. Continue stirring, otherwise the butter foam could overflow (about 5 minutes) and catch fire.

Once the butter stops foaming and rising, cook until amber in color (about 1 to 2 minutes). It will have a pleasant caramel aroma.

Turn off the heat and remove pan from burner. Let the sediment settle to the bottom of the pan for a few minutes.

Pour the brown butter through a strainer into a small bowl. Do not disturb the residue at the bottom of the pan.

The brown butter can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated in a microwave as needed.

Boil the pasta of choice until Al Dente. Drain pasta and divide into four servings. Spread 1/4 cup of Mizithra over each pasta serving. Top with 1/4 cup of hot brown butter.

This is a reasonably simple dish to prepare but is unbelievably rich and elegant.  I served it as a main dish but it would be well suited as a side to steak, chicken, pork, or a bold salad.  A little crusty bread with balsamic and olive oil dipping sauce and a nice wine and your evening is made!

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