Brussels Sprouts Parmesan Pasta
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Rating
4.9 out of 5 stars
(24)
Ingredients
3 to 4 servings
- 8 ounces uncooked pasta (I used orecchiette)
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 8 ounces Brussels sprouts, shredded (with ends trimmed off)
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 ounces (1 cup) freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
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Preparation
Step 1
Cook the pasta. Heat a large stockpot of generously-salted water until boiling. Add the pasta (about 5 minutes before you begin sautéing the Brussels, see below) and cook the pasta until it is 1 minute shy of al dente.
Step 2
Sauté the Brussels sprouts and garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shredded Brussels sprouts and garlic, and season with salt and lots of black pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue with step 3, or if the pasta is not yet ready, briefly remove the sauté pan from the burner until the pasta is ready to go.
Step 3
Toss the pasta. Once the pasta is ready, use a spider strainer to transfer the pasta into the sauté pan with the Brussels. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water, and sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top of the pasta. Remove the sauté pan from the heat. Then toss the pasta with the Brussels and cheese for about 1 minute, or until the cheese has melted evenly into a silky sauce and the pasta is cooked to al dente. If the sauce seems too dry, add in 1/4 cup of additional pasta water at a time until the right consistency is reached.
Step 4
Serve. Serve the pasta warm, garnished with lots of toasted pine nuts, and enjoy!
Step 5
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Chef's notes
Feel free to double the recipe if you would like to use a full pound of pasta.
If you would like to add a protein, bacon or Italian sausage would be a natural fit. (And if you add them, I recommend using the leftover grease to sauté the Brussels instead of the butter!)
Feel free to also sauté in some fresh kale or baby spinach with the Brussels sprouts if you would like to add in some extra greens.
As mentioned above, this recipe would also be delicious made with my the lemony brown butter sauce found in this recipe. Or, if you just wanted to add a hint of lemon to the cacio e pepe sauce, you could toss the pasta with a few tablespoons of lemon juice just before serving.
I usually can’t resist also adding in a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, to give the pasta a subtle hint of heat.
If you would like a more budget-friendly alternative to pine nuts, toasted walnuts would also be delicious in this recipe.
Just be sure to use certified gluten-free pasta to make it gluten-free.
