The Funky Kitchen

Mr. asked!

I said yes!

I’ve been hopping up and down non stop ever since. I’m so excited! Details of the story will soon follow!

Spaghetti with Brown Butter and Mizithra Cheese

spaghetti

1/4 Cup butter

60 grams mizithra cheese

Directions

• Prepare the spaghetti according to instructions. Be a little more generous than usual when salting your water for boiling the pasta.
• In a second pot, brown your butter.
• When the pasta is al dente, strain it out of the water and toss with the browned butter and half of the mizithra cheese.
• Sprinkle the remaining mizithra over top and serve.

This is one of Mr’s most favorite things. He says: it’s delicious. And it is. Just serve it alongside some veggies and celebrate!

This time last year: Overloaded Barbecued Cast Iron Brownie

And the year before: Bacon, Peach and Chicken Skewers

The contenders that evening were acorn squash, spicy Italian sausage, and labneh (yogurt cheese, previously used in The Funky Kitchen as a tortellini filling. If you haven’t tried it, you should!).

What would you make with the above as required ingredients?

I fell back on my favorite dinner making solutions: spaghetti. The spicy savory elements from the sausage along with the creamy bite of the labneh and the sweet buttery flavors of the roasted squash made for a really nicely balanced dinner. The leftovers made for a tasty lunch the next day too!

Here’s how I did it:

Spaghetti with Spicy Italian Sausage, Roasted Acorn Squash and Labneh

1/2 an acorn squash

1 tsp thyme leaves

1 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

3 spicy Italian sausages

1 small onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

3/4 cup labneh

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Remove the seeds and pulp from the squash and peel it. Dice the squash and toss it with the thyme, olive oil salt and pepper. Roast it in a 400° oven until soft and beginning to brown (~30 minutes).
• While the squash is roasting, remove the sausages from their casings and brown the meat in a pan over medium-high heat.
• Once the fat from the sausages has begun to render out, add the onion and garlic. Stir this mixture often because it is prone to sticking. Continue to cook until the onion, as well as the meat, is caramelized and brown.
• Prepare the spaghetti as required, reserving 3/4 Cup of the pasta water.
• Stir the pasta water into the labneh to thin it down.
• Return the spaghetti to the pot  over low heat and add the labneh and water mixture. Toss until the labneh sauce tightens up on the pasta.
• Add the sausage mixture as well as the roasted squash to the pot, and continue to toss until everything is well distributed and sauced.
• Serve immediately.

Peeling raw acorn squash was very tedious and difficult. Hindsight suggests that it might be worth your while just to roast it and then remove the skin and cut it into pieces. There won’t be as much surface area to get lovely and golden and roasted, but it would save a considerable amount of time.

The sausage I used in preparing this pasta did not render out very much fat. If the sausage you use does render a fair bit I would drain it away before adding the sausage mixture to the pasta because it could render your dinner rather greasy.

My mister rates this spaghetti: very remakeable