As part of my daily schedule, I try dedicating some time to blog hopping, reading books, learning, socializing and getting inspired. In between all this, cooking techniques and recipes get pinned and bookmarked, to be prepared later in my kitchen. While some of these get implemented almost right away, others sit quietly in some corner of my tiny brain until they get remembered and relished!
One fine afternoon when I had lost my mojo and was cracking my head to come up with something more interesting for dinner, a burnt pasta dish that I had once viewed in Cooking Channel suddenly hit my thoughts. In this particular episode, the gorgeous Laura Calder was travelling in France exploring traditional recipes and in one such location, there was this local chef who prepared burned pasta. Not really sure why was it called burned but Laura mentioned it to be more like toasted pasta.
Call it Beurre noisette or brown butter, it is one of those easy secret ingredients that can make any simple daily meal exotic and gourmet, flavorful and uplifting. I chose to use vermicelli instead of pasta and the result was fantastic. It was nutty, crispy and the color was strikingly dazzling. Browning butter is an art. Although it doesn’t need a lot of effort, it sure does need a lot of attention. A little distraction and brown butter could turn to black burnt butter and that’s no good.
After a little bit of chopping and sautéing, the meal was ready in almost no time. The sausage made the meal more filling and if you are a vegetarian, try using sautéed paneer cubes or fried tofu. It’s one of those everyday kinda meals that don’t require any extra preparation time. At the end, grate some Parmesan cheese and serve it while it’s still warm.
Brown Buttered Vermicelli with Sausage and Spinach
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups vermicelli
- 1-3/4 cup water
- 3 to 4 sausages, sliced to bite size
- 2 to 3 jalapeños, sliced to bite size
- 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- handful of baby spinach
- 1 cube bouillon
- 1/2 tablespoon chili flakes
- finely chopped parsley or cilantro to add later for garnish
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- In a wok on a deep pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter and sauté the sausages along with garlic for about 2 minutes. Add the jalapeños and sauté for a minute. Take it out in a bowl and keep it aside to be used later.
- In the same pan, keeping the heat to medium, add 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl until the foam is almost gone and butter is slightly brown in color. Crush the bouillon with hand, add it to the butter and give it a mix.
- Add vermicelli and keep stirring in medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes, until it turns golden brown in color. Keep an eye and do not divert your attention as it can get burnt very quickly.
- Add spinach, a pinch of salt, chili flakes, pepper and continue cooking for about a minute.
- Pour water and cover the pan. Let it simmer until the water in completely absorbed.
- Fluff it with a fork and add the sautéed sausages and jalapeños that were kept aside.
- Give it a mix, check for salt and add if required. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro.
- Serve warm with some grated parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
- Since bouillon usually has salt, be careful not to add any extra salt. Make sure you taste before you add any.
- Vermicelli could be substituted with angel hair pasta and sausages could be replaced with pan fried paneer or pan fried tofu.
This is not how I normally prepare vermicelli but it was nice for a change and Arvind loved it. Enough reason for me to mention it in my blog and share it with you. Something tells me that for a while, this is how we would be enjoying our vermicelli.
Comments are closed.
indugetscooking
October 29, 2012 at 9:09 PMAbsolutely love this dish, looks so delicious. And easy to prepare too. Stunning pics.
vijitha
October 29, 2012 at 9:11 PMWhat an idea! Lovely. Brilliant capture of the stean.
Revati
October 29, 2012 at 9:15 PMWow this looks so good and fresh and hearty!
Reem
October 29, 2012 at 10:28 PMI have no words left to describe the beauty of ur work…
May be I should just keep shut n wallow in this beauty..,
Gorgeous Kank!!!!!
Rosa
October 30, 2012 at 12:12 AMA scrumptious dish! Very comforting. This combination is really original.
Fantastic shots!
Cheers,
Rosa
sangeeta khanna
October 30, 2012 at 1:58 AMWhat wonderful pictures Kankana. Long time I had vermicelli, with sausage they will be yummy. A pleasant comforting meal.
Spandana
October 30, 2012 at 3:39 AMLooks very comforting.. and gorgeous pics as always, esp the one with the steam!
Vimitha
October 30, 2012 at 8:20 AMThats a very new take on vermicelli… Will try it with paneer… Looks so yummy. Nice clicks…
Sanjeeta kk
October 30, 2012 at 10:22 AMSuch a wonderful idea to use brown butter in a vermicelli dish…will be trying this out with my veggies. Love that cute little basket of semiyan.
Colette @ JFF!
October 30, 2012 at 2:18 PMToasting the pasta is a brilliant idea.
Swapna
October 30, 2012 at 2:30 PMWow…a brand new idea with vermicelli… sounds interesting!
Kitchen Belleicious
October 30, 2012 at 7:27 PMi am not just saying this- this dish has to be one of the best ones I have ever see on the web or ever really. It is creative, beautiful, flavorful and just perfect!
Ronja
October 31, 2012 at 5:01 AMLooks delicious! I love the photos, they are absolutely stunning.
thyme (Sarah)
October 31, 2012 at 5:25 AMNo doubt this dish would be gobbled up over here. I, too, have been intrigued by browned butter. I have some ravioli for dinner tonight and perhaps I’ll try to make a little browned butter sauce to go on top. Oh, dear…improvising…I’m not terrific at that!
[email protected]
October 31, 2012 at 7:56 AMI make something very similar, it just doesn’t look as gorgeous as yours. Love it!
Arch
October 31, 2012 at 8:40 AMWhat a lovely transformation of the humble vermicelli ! I love that picture with the steam coming up…Hope you will continue with your photography posts too…
Richa
October 31, 2012 at 7:59 PMlove that steam capture! gorgeous
mjskit
October 31, 2012 at 8:03 PMQuick and easy, spicy, healthy and so delicious! Lovely recipe and gorgeous clicks! Love the steam!
Nami | JOC
October 31, 2012 at 10:42 PMWe love vermicelli and this looks like a quick and delicious noodles! Love the steam capture perfectly. I tried so hard on few of my posts, but I need more practice! Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Laura
November 1, 2012 at 12:51 PMCiao Kankana, nice to meet you in your beautiful blog. I ‘m enchanted by your recipes and your pictures… 🙂
we are foodblog/mate 😉
see you soon!!
Laura
Kankana Saxena
November 1, 2012 at 1:13 PMHey Laura, thank you so much for dropping by 🙂 I just checked your blog and it is GORGEOUS. Hope we can meet soon 🙂
Lail
November 2, 2012 at 1:16 PMWhat an unusual recipe. Will give it it a try sometimes minus the sausage. Nice to find your blog.
Mallika
November 3, 2012 at 2:41 AMBrowned butter Vermicelli looks absolutely delicious! The idea of using paneer/tofu for vege substitute is perfectly sell-able and I am in for it! Beautiful clicks Kankana, they are top notch!
Heather
November 3, 2012 at 7:17 PMJust tried this tonight (came to you through Tastespotting!)–delish! My husband, 10-month old, and I gobbled it up and a few hours later, the house still smells so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
IshitaUnblogged
November 4, 2012 at 11:26 AMYour creation of Browned Butter Vermicelli is absolutely amazing. Even I’m curious as to why the local chef called the dish burnt Pasta. 2 images that really caught my fancy – the vermicelli and the smoke emanating from the dish – what a photographic feat Kankana. Have pinned both of them:)
Shumaila
November 4, 2012 at 2:54 PMI have some veggie dogs in the freezer. Think I might sub that for the sausage. Sounds delicious and easy! I love browned butter in dishes, and agree that it does elevate any dish.
rebecca
November 4, 2012 at 3:33 PMlooks great and love the way you dream of your next dish
Yelena
November 4, 2012 at 6:32 PMBeautiful dish, mouthwatering pictures! Sound very delicious, perfect for Autumn!
Priya Krish
November 5, 2012 at 2:36 AMSuper cute as usual love the steamy one 😉
But omG…you stopped watermarking your images…why so?
prolly coz people like steal n remove it anyway…?
Pia
November 6, 2012 at 2:54 AMYou know what – the colours remind me of the chowmein from street stalls back home. In a good way, and a much more sophisticated rendition. I love cooking noodles with sausages, and I’m sure vermicelli is going to be fab too.
Kiran
November 7, 2012 at 10:32 AMLove Laura Calder’s show! She is so entertaining!
Brown butter makes everything extra special and delicious 🙂
Charles
November 7, 2012 at 1:43 PMWhat a gorgeous dish – and I love the sound of “burnt pasta”, haha, although toasted sounds a little more appetising. I don’t eat vermicelli very much I must admit – it always seems to lack substance, but this looks like a wonderful way of serving it.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
November 7, 2012 at 5:57 PMI love brown butter, this pasta looks wonderful! Love your steam shot :).
Adora's Box
November 8, 2012 at 8:15 AMDelicious and quick, that’s what I like. I love Catalan Fideua and the process is very similar. I love the sausages, spinach and burnt butter on this one. I can just imagine the vibrant flavours of that.
Kacie Phillips
November 8, 2012 at 11:55 AMI am not familiar with vermicelli. Looks interesting and yummy! I need to go to the store and get some of this goodness! 😉
Magic of Spice
November 10, 2012 at 6:55 PMI absolutely love this. I do not eat meat, but my family would love the sausage included 🙂 Beautiful as always!
Karen
November 15, 2012 at 8:12 AMWhat an inventive and delicious sounding dish.
Emily @ ruflove.com
November 16, 2012 at 10:27 AMMade this the other night with a few modifications to be dairy free and for what I had in my kitchen. YUMMY!!!
Jacqueline
November 16, 2012 at 5:41 PMI think you have succeeded in finding something original. Burnt pasta doesn’t quite do justice to this beautiful dish – much prefer brown buttered vermicelli. Beautiful, tasty ingredients.
Sonia
January 3, 2013 at 2:23 PMHey Kankana,
Made this today. Did not have spinach,but added some frozen peas and sauted onions and garlic along with vermicilli . Did not add extra pepper as jalapenos were spicy enough.Thanks for the recipe.Easy and tasty.