Pickle followers love taking what is meant to be an accent—a bitter and pungent adornment—and forcing it right into a predominant function. We’ll attempt any pickled-flavored snack that involves market, be it a easy potato chip or one thing extra elaborate like these pickle pups (which, full disclosure, weren’t superb). So after I pitched this pickle pasta to my editor, Joel (a fellow pickle freak), it was virtually a joke…however simply virtually. I had skilled scrumptious success with cucumber pasta, grilled pickles, and caramelized pickle dip, and was fueled by hubris.
I anticipated this pasta sauce to be enjoyable, however I didn’t anticipate it to be nuanced, balanced, and totally scrumptious. Pickles are an aggressive meals, however when gently sautéed in butter with a bit of little bit of sugar, they mellow out significantly, simmering down right into a barely candy mass of deeply savory, buttery cucumber. It’s an umami bomb for positive, however extra W54 than Tsar Bomba.
The recipe for pickle pasta is sort of equivalent to the recipe for cucumber pasta, with a number of notable variations. I omitted the salt and garlic, as a result of the pickles I selected already had a good quantity of every. I additionally added sugar to steadiness the salt and vinegar. And that’s the whole ingredient listing: Pickles, butter, sugar, and spaghetti. In case you have these 4 issues, you may make pickle pasta.
You’ll start by shredding or finely chopping the pickles. I had initially deliberate to shred mine within the meals processor however couldn’t discover the shredding attachment, so I pulsed them utilizing the common blade attachment. When you’ve damaged down the pickles into tiny items, all it’s a must to do is cook dinner them over medium-low warmth with a bit of sugar and in a lot of butter till they offer up the little water they’ve left and the vinegar mellows into one thing sweeter and extra welcoming. Toss with starchy pasta water and your noodle of selection—I like to recommend spaghetti—and dinner is served.
How one can make pickle spaghetti
Elements:
- 9 ounces kosher dill pickles (I used 1 drained tub of Dealer Joe’s Kosher Dill Pickle Spears)
- 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 8 ounces spaghetti (It’s possible you’ll not use all of it, relying in your choice for pickles.)
- Parmesan cheese, should you need
Coarsely shred or chop your pickles—a few pulses within the meals processor ought to do it. Add 3 tablespoons of butter to a medium saute pan and soften over medium warmth. Add the pickles and the sugar, stir totally, and scale back to medium-low. Cook dinner for 35-45 minutes till the surplus moisture has evaporated. In the event that they begin to look dry and stick with the pan, add one other tablespoon of butter. You may even see a liquid pooling right here and there, however that’s fats from the butter, and it’ll look fairly completely different than skinny, steaming water.
Whereas the pickles are cooking, convey a big pot of water to a boil and add your spaghetti. Cook dinner in keeping with bundle directions, shaving off a minute of the cook dinner time. As soon as the pasta is simply shy of al dente, reserve 2 cups of pasta water, drain the pasta, and put aside.
Give the pickles a style. They need to be savory, buttery, and a bit of candy. In the event that they nonetheless style aggressively vinegary, cook dinner for a number of extra minutes. As soon as prepared, add 1/4 cup of pasta water and stir to emulsify. Add about half the pasta, together with one other 1/4 cup of pasta water, and toss. Add a bit of extra pasta and toss once more till your pasta is dressed to your liking, including small quantities of pasta water as wanted to maintain issues saucy. (I didn’t use all of my spaghetti, most likely about 6 ounces, as a result of I like issues fairly pickle heavy.) Garnish with parmesan cheese and revel in instantly.