Pasta with fresh herbs

Meatless meals are always welcome on my table, and because I observe Lent I have several mandatory meatless days ahead of me between now and Easter. A new recipe as quick and delicious as this one definitely makes life easier. It’s the kind of dish that you can make once and never have to look at the recipe again.

I’ve already come to think of this as Simon and Garfunkel pasta because it uses parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Its real name is Winter Herb Pasta, from last December’s Gourmet, and it’s especially low in cholesterol because there’s no cheese at all. The topping is crispy and garlicy, sort of like garlic bread without the fuss.

I’ve made this a couple times now and, like many of the user-reviewers at epicurious.com, I found the recipe, as written, used too much oil and too much pasta water. I provide the original amounts, with notations. I also use panko in the topping instead of the bread crumbs called for; panko is much crispier and nowadays, nearly every supermarket carries it in the Asian aisle.

The pasta is bucatini, the fat, hollow spaghetti, but I used thick spaghetti here. In either case you’ll want to put the water on first because both of those spaghetti varieties need to cook for 11 – 13 minutes, depending on how toothsome your definition of al dente is. The rest of the dish is very, very fast.

And while fresh herbs are used – the method really precludes dried — it’s not essential to use all four. Having tried it that way, I now omit the sage. I love it on poultry and have used these four herbs on chicken for years. But here, sage reminded me vaguely of Thanksgiving dressing. Maybe it’s just me.

Winter Herb Pasta

Adapted from Gourmet

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided [I use only half this much]
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette) [or panko]
1 pound dried bucatini or thick spaghetti
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Bring 5 – 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 -2 TB of kosher salt and cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and the butter in a 12″ or larger skillet or saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and the foaming subsides, add the garlic and stir 1 – 2 minutes until golden. Add bread crumbs/panko and cook 4 – 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until golden and crispy. Transfer to a bowl, reserve the skillet.

When the pasta is done, remove about 1 cup of water [Don't worry about the exact amount, that's more than you'll need - ella] and reserve. Drain the pasta.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet, add the sage, rosemary and thyme and stir to cook, about 2 minutes.

Add several tablespoons of the pasta water to the pan. Add the pasta and most of the parsley, reserving a bit for garnish, and toss well, adding more water if needed to moisten.

Serve topped with reserved bread/panko crumbs and remaining parsley.

Serves 6

Tagged as: budget meals, Easter, easy, quick