Browned Garlic Butter Spaghetti with Mizithra

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A 20-minute copycat of the family-restaurant classic: spaghetti tossed in nutty browned butter perfumed with sliced garlic, then buried under a snowdrift of salty grated mizithra. The trick is browning the butter just past golden and adding the cheese off the heat so it stays fluffy instead of seizing into clumps. Ricotta salata or a dry, aged pecorino stands in beautifully if mizithra is hard to find.

Ingredients

• 1 lb dried spaghetti
• 2 tbsp kosher salt, for the pasta water

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 6 oz mizithra cheese, finely grated (about 2 packed cups); or dry ricotta salata
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)
• flaky salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Grate the mizithra on the small holes of a box grater (or pulse chunks in a food processor until fluffy and sandy) and let it sit at room temperature while you cook. Cold cheese hitting hot butter is the number one cause of clumping. You should have about 2 packed cups; reserve about 1/2 cup for sprinkling at the table.
2. Bring 5 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add the spaghetti and cook, stirring in the first 30 seconds so it doesn't stick, until just al dente — usually 1 minute less than the package time, about 8 to 9 minutes. Before draining, scoop out 1 1/2 cups of the starchy cooking water.
3. While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large stainless or light-colored skillet over medium heat. Once it stops foaming, about 3 minutes, add the sliced garlic. Cook, swirling constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes: the butter will turn from pale yellow to a toasty amber with brown flecks on the bottom and smell nutty, and the garlic will be pale gold at the edges.
4. The moment the milk solids are amber-brown, kill the heat and stir in the black pepper and red pepper flakes. Browned butter goes from nutty to burnt in about 20 seconds, so pull it early if you're unsure — the residual heat keeps toasting it. If the garlic looks like it's darkening too fast, slide the pan off the burner.
5. Drain the spaghetti and add it directly to the skillet along with 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Return to low heat and toss vigorously with tongs for 45 to 60 seconds, until the butter and water emulsify into a glossy sauce that coats every strand.
6. Take the skillet completely off the heat and wait 30 seconds so the pan drops below a sizzle. Add about three-quarters of the grated mizithra in three additions, tossing hard between each, and splash in more pasta water a tablespoon at a time as needed to keep things loose and creamy. Off-heat addition is what keeps the cheese light and separate instead of stringy.
7. Taste and add flaky salt only if needed — mizithra is aggressively salty. Divide among 4 warm bowls, shower each with the reserved cheese and the parsley, and serve immediately while the butter is still fragrant.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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