Au Pair Recommended Recipes: Parmesan Noodles

I first tried this recipe when I lived with my darling dearest Hanna in Monterey. She was my test subject for my daring attempts at domesticity and, fortunately for her, I did all right. I made all kinds of stuff – spaghetti and homemade meatballs, spaghetti bakes, baked lemon chicken, warm blueberry ice cream topping, burritos, seven layer bean dips, etc. I was on my way to being the host of a Food Network reality show. Or not. I actually didn’t cook very much, compared to all of the frozen pizza, mac and cheese, and mashed potato flakes (just had boiling milk!) I made over the course of our year long residency in our first Monterey apartment. I got lazy and gave up. Or just made the same five things ten times over. Anyway, the moral of this story is… I’m grateful for the time that I did attempt to become a chef because now, as an au pair, I am actually putting it to use and feeding a real family. I’ve already made crepe-style pancakes, real mashed potatoes, healthy salads with homemade dressing, and, my favorite, delicious parmesan noodles. I highly suggest that you try this recipe at home. They’re so good!

I deviated from the recipe a little bit which I think made all the difference because the dish that I made for Hanna wasn’t nearly this good. So, I’m giving you my version of the recipe. Because it’s better. :)

8 oz Farfalle noodles (bowtie pasta)
1/4 cup butter or margerine (or olive oil or mix it half and half, but straight butter is the best)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons FRESH grated parmesan (I mean it on the fresh part, it’s infinitely better this way!)
2 tablespoons FRESH parsley

Cook the noodles, drain and return to pan. While the noodles are cooking, melt the butter in a separate saucepan and add garlic powder. When the noodles are ready, pour the garlic butter over them and stir until noodles are well coated. Add the grated parmesen and mix thoroughly. Add more if desired but 4 tablespoons should be plenty. Grate a little extra cheese for the table, in case anyone wants more. Sprinkle parsley over noodles as desired.

There you go! A delicious side dish or pasta meal! If you make this, let me know how you like it! One of the twins LOVES it. She eats about two platefuls and asks for it almost every day. The other twin, not so much. And the Frau loves it as well.

Home run for the au pair!