Basic Brown Butter

It was a little strange to get back to cooking after a long weekend of restaurants with my parents, but it was time for some real food.  I eased back into the cooking game with fish over quinoa on Tuesday night, but by last night, I was ready to really get in there.  My parents helped me stock my fridge before they left, and one the things they treated me to was fresh pasta from Eataly. 

This season, they have a pea and mint ravioli that looked too good to pass up.  I wanted something light and Springy that would let the fresh pasta shine.  I decided to top it with some sauteed asparagus and instead of a heavy cream or tomato sauce, I made brown butter.  I had never made brown butter and didn't really understand how it worked.  Every time I put butter into a hot pan, it seems to just melt away - never more than a deep yellow color.  Where does this brown come from?  Sure enough, if you put enough butter in the pan and let it go for about five minutes (while whisking), it turns brown and gives off a nutty aroma with the taste to match.  I poured the brown butter over the pasta and asparagus and topped with some parmesan.  It was superb.  Just goes to show you that the simplest meals made with quality ingredients (i.e.: fresh pasta) don't need to be anything crazy.

For this dish, sauce-less was the way to go.  Not only did it work with the pasta, I learned a new technique.  I hear the phrase brown butter tossed around in restaurants all the time so I suppose now I can hang with the big dogs.  Woof.