Thursday, August 30, 2012

Pasta with bread crumbs

Yes, this sounds simple and plain, but really I liked it.  I may have over crisped my bread crumbs a bit.  I didn't mind, (they definitely weren't burned) but 2/4 boys said they were either too crispy/tasted burnt.  Benjamin LOVED this.  He was so excited to have had 2 dinners this week that he really liked.  Even had seconds.  It truly is super simple.  I think if I had not toasted the bread crumbs as long I would have had 4/4 liking this dish.
Other tips for next time - don't add the olive oil to the butter - just add it all to the pasta, and unless using the good Parmesan, I think I could probably have doubled the amount of Parmesan.  (at least 1 1/2 times.)
I doubled this from the original - feel free to cut in 1/2.  I did have a decent amount of left overs, but DH did not eat dinner with us and I didn't know that when preparing.
As is, serves 12 as a side dish, 8 as a main

Ingredients

  • 1 16 oz. package short pasta (I used ditalini just because it was the only thing I had a complete package of other than spaghetti - time to go shopping.)
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups coarse soft bread crumbs (4 slices of bread for me - I just tore them up and pulsed them in the food processor until crumbly.)
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2/3 cup (I'd use at least 1 cup next time, maybe 1 1/3) grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  
  2. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet.  Add 2 teaspoons of oil (may omit this next time) and the garlic.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, and salt and stir to coat the crumbs with the butter.  
  3. Cook and stir until crumbs are browned and crisp (6-10 minutes.)  Remove from heat and set aside.
  4.  When the pasta is done, drain, return to the pot and toss with 2 teaspoons of olive oil (I'd use a bit more next time.) and the Parmesan cheese.  Stir to mix.  Just before serving, stir in the breadcrumbs.  

More notes --
I actually really worried that the crumbs wouldn't be crisp enough - part of the getting them too crispy problem.  I also added them right before I planned to serve this only to have a child knock a glass butter dish on the floor and I had to stop and clean the mess.  Luckily the pasta wasn't any worse for the wear.  The crumbs held their crispiness.  As left overs, the breadcrumbs are no longer crisp, but are not mushy either.  Totally still edible, and seem to have an even more intense buttery garlic flavor.  

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