Monday, February 27, 2012

Spaghetti with green garlic butter

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Spaghetti with green garlic butter: A simple springtime dinner

It's starting to feel like spring here in southern California. My roses are budding. It's still light outside when I get home from work. The moms at school are chatting about spring break plans.

And green garlic has reappeared at the farmers' market.

If you've never tried green garlic, I recommend it. It's the young garlic plant, pulled to thin the rows before the garlic bulbs swell and harden underground. Looks like an overgrown green onion. You use the whole thing from root to tip. It acts like a leek but tastes mildly of garlic. It's delicious.

And then mix up some green garlic butter, a supremely useful condiment. I like it spread on warm bread, but it's also darn good tossed with al dente spaghetti. Add a sprinkle of grated cheese if you like, but not too much - you don't want to overwhelm the soft, sweet scent and flavor of garlic.




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Spaghetti with green garlic butter
Green garlic - the young garlic plant, pulled to thin the rows in early spring - combines a mild garlic flavor with the texture of green onion or leek. Look for it at farmers' markets or gourmet grocery stores and snatch it up when you see it: The season is short but well worth celebrating.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 pound spaghetti, linguine or other long, thin pasta
  • 1/4 cup green garlic butter (click for recipe)
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (optional)
Instructions
Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. While the pasta is cooking, put the green garlic butter in a large bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the pasta cooking water - the starch in the water will combine with the butter to make a nice sauce.When the pasta is cooked al dente ("to the tooth," or just cooked through), drain the pasta and add it to the bowl. Toss well so the green garlic butter coats every strand. Season with a little salt and a lot of freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese, if using. Serve immediately.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 servings

4 comments:

Unknown said...

So nice you can think about spring. The pasta looks delish. Winter is just beginning here in New Hampshire, with a snow storm in the forecast. No complaints, it is what we have been waiting for!

Rhonda said...

Garlic scape is so good, I just started using it last year, delish!

Jada Leroy said...

This looks like a great dish for a romantic home date! I'm gonna cook this for my husband and see if I can still make him fall for me over and over again. Thanks!

Erika Kerekes said...

@Jada it's romantic as long as you're both eating the garlic....

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