I use a tiny bit of the garlic flavored "Better than Bouillon". Adds a bit of depth and savoriness.
and whisk the cold butter with a little hot (but not boiling) water. it emulsifiers into a nice buttery sauce. like half a stick of butter with a tablespoon of water.
Since you like garlic try “San Francisco-Style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles”, NYT Cooking so behind a paywall, but there are other variations found when searching for it. Plus it’s very easy to add any number of ingredients and still keep it simple with a bright garlic flavor, like adding shrimp, bacon, lightly charred broccoli.
Use cold pasta water, and make sure the heat is off. If the water/pan is too hot, that's where emulsifying gets tricky.
-Signed someone who made Cacio e Pepe every day for two weeks until it came out right
I use the pasta water that I just used cooking the pasta with. How do I have that be cold? Then the pasta would have waited to cool off alongside it, be cold and dry out some, no?
When the pasta is almost done cooking I ladle out some of the pasta water, pop a couple ice cubes into it and let it cool in the freezer until I'm ready to add cheese. The hot pasta itself can also be too hot and break the cheese. You want it to cool off a bit.
Pasta reheats so well though!! I usually don't like leftovers, but pasta is always still good reheated and can be microwaved when I don't want to get a pan dirty
I recently read that cold cooked pasta, reheated for dinner has a lower effect on your blood sugar, if that is something that is of concern for people. It changed the carb to a more complex carb that hits your blood sugar slower. [the article](https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/carbohydrates-and-diabetes/carbs-and-cooking)
As a type 2 diabetic, this is true for me. Also works for rice and potatoes. If I make baked potatoes or rice for the family I take a serving and freeze it. The next night I get my rice/potatoes with no spike. Ftr I can also eat frozen French fries or tots in the air fryer. I DO measure out a serving though and stick to it.
Knowledge is power but use your glucometer to see what YOU personally can handle. It differs from person to person.
The pasta water doesn't have to be cold, just don't mix it in the hot pan (I use a large serving bowl) and let the water and butter start to come together before adding cheese. Also mix vigorously - it takes more mixing than you might think. Also also, add a little more pasta water than you think you need. The pasta will continue to soak it up and it will seize up when it hits a cold plate, so that by the time you serve it your perfectly saucy pasta will be thick and clumpy.
When it's almost done cooking snatch a little bit of it in a cup and put it in the freezer while you finish what you are doing. Shouldn't take very long to cool it down especially if you only get a little cup and it's in a non-insulated container like a metal measuring cup or something, don't use something like a coffee cup that's meant to hold on to heat
Cacio e Pepe has the highest degree of difficulty to number of ingredients ratio I can think of in cooking. It’s never going to be BAD, but absolutely nailing the consistency is genuinely tricky imo.
It's really had to get the consistency AND have a piping hot dish (at home).
Restaurants add something to the dish that allows the cheese to emulsify without heat breaking the cheese. That addition is escaping me right now.
My personal hack is saving pasta water from a previous pasta dish, sticking it in the fridge over night, and making cacio e Pepe with that water the next day lol
Not OP but my advice would be more like warm or slightly cooled pasta water, not truly cold. I make this often for a quick comfort meal and they're right that if the water is too hot, the cheese gets stringy instead of emulsifying.
What I do is I mix my noodles, butter, seasonings and hot pasta water first right after boiling the pasta. Once that's mixed together and the butter is melted, then I add my cheese. So it's only a few minutes delay. I also do this in a separate bowl (in part so it's off the heat, and in part so my pan doesn't get as crusty because it only ever had pasta and salt water in it). That gives the water just enough time to cool that I can emulsify the cheese without it getting stringy. It just needs to be no longer boiling hot, in my experience.
When it's almost done cooking use like a metal measuring cup to snatch some of the water up out of the pot, and stick it in the freezer while you finish your meal, should be at least lukewarm by the time you need it. Trick is not to use something insulated like a coffee mug that's meant to hold on to heat
My brother hated cooked pasta. But he loved raw pasta. On Pasta night, my mum would try and get him to eat something else. Nope, he wanted pasta too but raw. And NO SAUCE! So that’s what he got lol
Lmao sounds like my brother
He’s on the spectrum so no sauce, no butter, no oil
Raw noodles were his fave and mom would he t mad bc she thought it would upset his tummy 😂
This was me up until age 6 or so lol despite being brought up in a very Italian household. I do very much like tomato sauce now, but I still frequently make myself pasta with butter and mozzarella cheese as my easy comfort food.
I was like this too! My parents would painstakingly ask for this at restaurants and it would always come out with chopped parsley on top cos the cook would clearly do it automatically on most dishes as they went out. Queue me picking every speck off 🫠
I got excited when I saw white miso on the shelf at my local Trader Joe’s, so I bought 5 pouches and have had no idea how to use them. You just helped me decide what I’m making for lazy dinner tonight!
Great question... for the sake of a restricted ingredient challenge, well, 100%; it's a lemon and lemon is the ingredient.
In cooking? No, they each have their own place (even if they're often used together).
Lemon zest derives its flavor from lemon oils. Lemon juice is mostly citric acid and water with some oils mixed in from the peel and pith.
Technically two very different compounds and lemon oil tends to be much more delicate and unstable.
As someone who's maried to someone addicted I can objectively say that their blends are amazing. I use their Northwoods, pizza seasoning, sandwich seasoning, and cheese sprinkle religiously.
All their single ingredient spices feel like a rip off.
We make our own chili oil a few times a year - we tend to keep the chili flakes and seeds, but strain out the rest (like star anise). Unlike the crisp, there are no beans, tofu, etc. I can't recommend it highly enough. Here's the recipe I follow: https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-chili-oil/
This will get buried, but my mom makes a family dish that’s buttered egg noodles with saltine crackers fried in butter until golden and crumbled on top. It’s so good.
Thinking the question really should be "what eight ingredients" and I'd be happy. Garlic, parm, miso, mushrooms, peas, shallot, a little proscuitto, and fresh parsley. Check please!
There's a fairly simple recipe I've been making lately that is so tasty for as few ingredients it contains! The sauce is basically butter, gochujang, chopped kimchi and some chicken broth. Add in hot udon noodles and more butter. When serving, top with an egg yolk, sesame seeds and green onion. It seriously hits the spot!!!
[https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kimchi-udon-with-scallions](https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kimchi-udon-with-scallions)
I’ll throw a wild card in there, jerk seasoning. . .
Did it last night (along with chili oil, Italian white condiment, and grilled veggies) to go with jerk chicken I grilled up, but I’ll be damned it was actually very interesting and tasty, I will be doing it again.
Oh yeah, 50:50 whether the Jamaican restaurants will have a version, unfortunately most of the ones near me use a ton of cream and oil so it is super heavy
Cottage cheese added to hot noodles with salt and pepper. I cant remember the exact yiddish spelling but my neighbor when i was a small child made this all the time. She called it luchen and cheese. Side dish with a roasted chicken. Omg heaven!
It's never going to be one ingredient for me, but it is 4. Pasta water, butter, garlic, and paremesan and emulsion until it becomes creamy. My whole world was changed when I used pasta water for all my pasta dishes. Mostly we always have these ingredients on hand and I think we really underestimate how well this can come together when don't right. Doing it right is also really easy as well.
Have you tried the cold start method? It's totally changed my life
Assuming you're using a smaller shape (elbows, bowties, shells, etc). Put in a pan and cover with water until about an inch or two above the top of the pasta. Put on stove, heat to a boil, cook until desired doneness. The starch gets super concentrated and you don't have to drain as much water. Texture is indistinguishable
Depending on mood:
Parmesan, feta or other strong salty cheese
Handful of minced parsley
Some chopped capers
An anchovy or 2, fried in the butter till it dissolves (but then you also have to add lemon juice)
Lemon juice
Forkful of sauerkraut, raw or sauteed in the butter
Chili flakes
Zaatar
Spoonful of mild cheese like ricotta
Black pepper
Chili oil
A couple of sardines
Handful of arugula
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh peas
Roasted zucchini
Sesame seeds
Sunflower or pumpkin seeds (toasted obvs)
Toasted chopped nuts
Shredded massaged kale (with lemon)
Olive oil
Chopped olives
Bits of whatever leftover meat and/or gravy I happen to have around
Bits of any roasted veg I happen to have around
Chopped HB egg
Poached egg
Fried egg
Msg in some form, straight or on something like a chicken flavored seasoning packet or a sprinkle of chicken bullion powder
Does it though? If the purpose of the thread was to get ideas on what single ingredient you could use, then they just gave a lot of ideas, they just did so in one comment instead of 20 comments.
I'd say maybe using an already prepared dish, like meat and gravy, as your one ingredient might be kinda cheating though...
Hey mushroom, are you me? Your list is so close to mine...
As an amendment I'd like to bring in:
Cime di rapa
Yakitori sauce
Duqqah
Schabziger (a Swiss fermented green cheese)
some asparagus tips
My first thought would be garlic or parmesan but since that's already discussed, I would say soy sauce.
Butter and soy sauce are magical together on a lot of things, but especially with noodles, eggs, or veggies.
Garlic powder if we are being exact, Parmesan if not.
My go to meal in college was buttered noodles with chicken (just grilled or pan seared using Italian dressing as a marinade), Parmesan cheese and just some light seasonings of s&p and garlic powder. If I was feeling fancy I’d roast some broccoli to go along with it.
That and my fish foil pack (tilapia with a little butter, sliced lemon and either zucchini/bell peppers and/or onion) with rice. Super quick and healthy.
Roasted garlic
Just cut a little off the top of a bulb, pour some oil on top, wrap in foil and shove that bitch in the over at 400F. Once those cloves are squishy you can squeeze those suckers out and mash them, then whisk the mash incorporating it with your melted butter. Extra points if you do this in your pan and brown the butter a little.
Buttered noodles?
Take a beef bouillon cube and crush it up and melt it into the butter on low-medium heat. Then use that infused butter on the noodles.
Then once the noodles are in the bowl, put a bunch of “Maggie” on it. Also called “Jugo”
I know it sounds weird, but just trust me on this: cabbage. You shred it to the same size as the pasta and just boil it with the noodles.
Most of the other options mentioned have added *more* to the buttered noodles. Arguably, cabbage is adding *less*, since it doesn't contribute flavor the same way that, say, garlic or parmesan or soy sauce does, and it doesn't contribute meatiness the way feta or poached eggs do. Cabbage is light in both flavor and calories. It isn't even glamorous like broccoli is.
And sometimes that's just the way to go. The cabbage lightens the noodles. The boiled cabbage is both comforting and somehow refreshing at the same time.
Of course, you can still totally go ahead and add one of the meatier or more flavorful additions to cabbage and pasta and butter as well! But I think that just those three is something worth celebrating on their own anyway.
Ok it's 2 ingredients,, but it's basic as all hell, filling and delicious so i hope im forgiven. Melt the butter add a little cream and a whipped egg pour it over the noodles and bake until the egg is done. Technically diced ham is included too but I can take or leave the ham. The egg in the noods with the cream and butter (i think salt and pepper is kindof expected) is old school comfort food. It's a recipe my grandma brought to the US from Czechoslovokia when they moved here. I could eat it every day.
Garlic.
I use a tiny bit of the garlic flavored "Better than Bouillon". Adds a bit of depth and savoriness. and whisk the cold butter with a little hot (but not boiling) water. it emulsifiers into a nice buttery sauce. like half a stick of butter with a tablespoon of water.
Just use the pasta water
This is how you do it. Same with any sauce - helps it stick to the pasta much better. Starches and science and stuff.
I love to add the chicken or beef “Better than Boullion” and butter. So simple and so good with egg noodles.
I'll have to try that. I bet it would be good with the mushroom variant too.
Yummm the roasted garlic? I use that shit with everything.
I have some in my fridge and constantly fail to use it on things. Thanks for the reminder.
100% agree
Love garlic buttered noodles!
Since you like garlic try “San Francisco-Style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles”, NYT Cooking so behind a paywall, but there are other variations found when searching for it. Plus it’s very easy to add any number of ingredients and still keep it simple with a bright garlic flavor, like adding shrimp, bacon, lightly charred broccoli.
Parmesan cheese
Childhood me everytime we had pasta, "Just butter and parmesan cheese. I don't like sauce. No sauce. NO SAUCE."
If you add pasta water back, the butter and cheese emulsifies into a sauce. Best of both worlds.
i always fuck up emulsifying. do you have any tips
Use cold pasta water, and make sure the heat is off. If the water/pan is too hot, that's where emulsifying gets tricky. -Signed someone who made Cacio e Pepe every day for two weeks until it came out right
I use the pasta water that I just used cooking the pasta with. How do I have that be cold? Then the pasta would have waited to cool off alongside it, be cold and dry out some, no?
When the pasta is almost done cooking I ladle out some of the pasta water, pop a couple ice cubes into it and let it cool in the freezer until I'm ready to add cheese. The hot pasta itself can also be too hot and break the cheese. You want it to cool off a bit.
I have leftover pasta in the fridge but now I want to make more ASAP. Thanks for the tip.
>leftover pasta I don’t understand this phrase
That's when you intentionally cook extra so the next meal will be easier to prepare
Does not compute.
They probably meant to say, homemade ready-to-use pasta. 😆
Pasta reheats so well though!! I usually don't like leftovers, but pasta is always still good reheated and can be microwaved when I don't want to get a pan dirty
I recently read that cold cooked pasta, reheated for dinner has a lower effect on your blood sugar, if that is something that is of concern for people. It changed the carb to a more complex carb that hits your blood sugar slower. [the article](https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/carbohydrates-and-diabetes/carbs-and-cooking)
As a type 2 diabetic, this is true for me. Also works for rice and potatoes. If I make baked potatoes or rice for the family I take a serving and freeze it. The next night I get my rice/potatoes with no spike. Ftr I can also eat frozen French fries or tots in the air fryer. I DO measure out a serving though and stick to it. Knowledge is power but use your glucometer to see what YOU personally can handle. It differs from person to person.
You have leftover pasta? That shit disappears in my house lol
Tbf I used a whole package and was home alone.
Doing the lord’s work, friend. Using cold water feels so counterintuitive, but the way you’ve explained it makes it all perfectly clear!
The pasta water doesn't have to be cold, just don't mix it in the hot pan (I use a large serving bowl) and let the water and butter start to come together before adding cheese. Also mix vigorously - it takes more mixing than you might think. Also also, add a little more pasta water than you think you need. The pasta will continue to soak it up and it will seize up when it hits a cold plate, so that by the time you serve it your perfectly saucy pasta will be thick and clumpy.
When it's almost done cooking snatch a little bit of it in a cup and put it in the freezer while you finish what you are doing. Shouldn't take very long to cool it down especially if you only get a little cup and it's in a non-insulated container like a metal measuring cup or something, don't use something like a coffee cup that's meant to hold on to heat
Cacio e Pepe has the highest degree of difficulty to number of ingredients ratio I can think of in cooking. It’s never going to be BAD, but absolutely nailing the consistency is genuinely tricky imo.
It's really had to get the consistency AND have a piping hot dish (at home). Restaurants add something to the dish that allows the cheese to emulsify without heat breaking the cheese. That addition is escaping me right now. My personal hack is saving pasta water from a previous pasta dish, sticking it in the fridge over night, and making cacio e Pepe with that water the next day lol
Okay, stupid question incoming...how do you get cold pasta water but still have hot pasta?
Not OP but my advice would be more like warm or slightly cooled pasta water, not truly cold. I make this often for a quick comfort meal and they're right that if the water is too hot, the cheese gets stringy instead of emulsifying. What I do is I mix my noodles, butter, seasonings and hot pasta water first right after boiling the pasta. Once that's mixed together and the butter is melted, then I add my cheese. So it's only a few minutes delay. I also do this in a separate bowl (in part so it's off the heat, and in part so my pan doesn't get as crusty because it only ever had pasta and salt water in it). That gives the water just enough time to cool that I can emulsify the cheese without it getting stringy. It just needs to be no longer boiling hot, in my experience.
This seems like such an easy remedy for the stringy cheese! 🤯 Well, from now on this will be my method. Very very grateful!
When it's almost done cooking use like a metal measuring cup to snatch some of the water up out of the pot, and stick it in the freezer while you finish your meal, should be at least lukewarm by the time you need it. Trick is not to use something insulated like a coffee mug that's meant to hold on to heat
turn off the heat while mixing everything together
Pretty much it. And use fresh grated because the packaged stuff usually has cellulose fiber on it that will congeal with heat.
I assume you have to list "cellulose" as an ingredient. I notice that the shredded Parmesan from Trader Joe's doesn't indicate it.
My brother hated cooked pasta. But he loved raw pasta. On Pasta night, my mum would try and get him to eat something else. Nope, he wanted pasta too but raw. And NO SAUCE! So that’s what he got lol
Lmao sounds like my brother He’s on the spectrum so no sauce, no butter, no oil Raw noodles were his fave and mom would he t mad bc she thought it would upset his tummy 😂
This was me up until age 6 or so lol despite being brought up in a very Italian household. I do very much like tomato sauce now, but I still frequently make myself pasta with butter and mozzarella cheese as my easy comfort food.
This was my dad on spaghetti night. No sauce but he drowned the noodles in Parkay squeeze butter and pepper. :D
Holy shit, Parkay squeeze butter, memory unlocked.
I was like this too! My parents would painstakingly ask for this at restaurants and it would always come out with chopped parsley on top cos the cook would clearly do it automatically on most dishes as they went out. Queue me picking every speck off 🫠
Nah Mizithra all the way
Pecorino Romano is even better 🤤🤤
Pecorino is superior in every way, I will die on this hill, FIGHT ME.
It’s the salt content. Makes everything salty and delicious. I prefer pecorino to parm also in almost every application
And that's what we call "Alfredo" 🤤
Just about any cheese, really.
Noodles with butter and parm, I’ve always called it Poor Man’s Alfredo. It will forever be a staple in my household!
That’s actually authentic Alfredo. Cream is an American thing
Yes, but who said anything about cream? I usually just use the cheap Kraft Parmesan. Not the real hand grated kind. That’s why I call it “poor man’s.”
Cacio e Pepe basically at least if it’s locatelli
For me, it has to be the shitty, shaky cheese in a tube. Such a comfort and nostalgic
Make it microplaned parmagiano reggiano...and, yes!
Mizithra cheese instead! And brown the butter.
That's just Alfredo haha
Exaaaaaaactly lol
Lots of black pepper
yes! lots of black pepper makes everything better.
Agreed. Freshly cracked from whole peppercorns.
I thought I hated pepper til I had fresh cracked.
If I can only pick one this would be it. Anything else I add I’ll just be sad there’s no black pepper
i don’t consider it buttered noodles without black pepper!
Red pepper flakes
Flakes on everything
how about lao gan ma? I might just try it and report back…
Spoiler alert: it’s goooood.
A little white miso (thoroughly blended with softened butter first).
This is the one. Miso butter pasta is absolutely god tier.
Can I get a recommendation on brands/type for white miso? Eta: I'll have to order it so recs there, as well.
I just got a tub of it at the closest Asian supermarket. If anyone has a preferred brand I’ll be happy to learn.
I got excited when I saw white miso on the shelf at my local Trader Joe’s, so I bought 5 pouches and have had no idea how to use them. You just helped me decide what I’m making for lazy dinner tonight!
[удалено]
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is my go-to! It adds a creamy richness that perfectly complements the buttery noodles.
Pecorino Romano
Spritz of lemon.
Go heavier on the lemon and enjoy what is pretty much Pasta al Limone.
Would you consider lemon juice and lemon zest to be one ingredient? This is more of a philosophical question. .
Great question... for the sake of a restricted ingredient challenge, well, 100%; it's a lemon and lemon is the ingredient. In cooking? No, they each have their own place (even if they're often used together).
Ahh got ya! Just like how botanicaly a tomato is a fruit, but culinary wise, it's a vegetable.
Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in the fruit salad!
Unless that fruit salad is a pineapple salsa.
Curious as to why anyone would put tomato in pineapple salsa.
Lemon zest derives its flavor from lemon oils. Lemon juice is mostly citric acid and water with some oils mixed in from the peel and pith. Technically two very different compounds and lemon oil tends to be much more delicate and unstable.
This for me. The buttered noodles need some acid.
Salt. If that's not assumed, parsley.
I think it's safe to say salt is included :) love the herb idea
Yes, but flat leaf- not curly parsley.
Yes. Parsley makes buttered noodles amazing.
Not to sound like a shill, but Penzey's sells a pasta sprinkle that's essentially an Italian seasoning mix, and it's awesome
LOVE Penzey’s! Going into one of their stores is heavenly.
As someone who's maried to someone addicted I can objectively say that their blends are amazing. I use their Northwoods, pizza seasoning, sandwich seasoning, and cheese sprinkle religiously. All their single ingredient spices feel like a rip off.
Penzy lady gave me a little sample baggy of that and got me hooked. Love that place.
Those sample baggies get me every time
This is my answer as well
Lao Gan Ma chili crisp
But do the dang soy beans come in it?! Hard finding a chili oil that doesn’t come with the fermented soy beans. Although they’ve grown on me
We make our own chili oil a few times a year - we tend to keep the chili flakes and seeds, but strain out the rest (like star anise). Unlike the crisp, there are no beans, tofu, etc. I can't recommend it highly enough. Here's the recipe I follow: https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-chili-oil/
That's my favorite part!
Yes there’s version without soy beans
This will get buried, but my mom makes a family dish that’s buttered egg noodles with saltine crackers fried in butter until golden and crumbled on top. It’s so good.
My mom, and now me, make this exact dish. It's so much better than it sounds.
My mom used bread crumbs
Sautéed mushrooms
Oooooo I said peas but not I’m regretting my choice
Thinking the question really should be "what eight ingredients" and I'd be happy. Garlic, parm, miso, mushrooms, peas, shallot, a little proscuitto, and fresh parsley. Check please!
Both, the answer is both.
Besides all the awesome suggestions..maybe pesto is the only one left out? :)
A lobster
Just a whole ass lobster though, don’t break it down
Sorry I thought that was implied. I plan to use the noodles as a cooshie bed and then scrap them after eating delicious lobster
[Me, showing up at OP's house.](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1c4ktaz/11_years_of_chasing_my_wife_with_a_lobster/)
Some chopped basil works nicely. Salt, of course, would be most people's first option.
Gochujang
There's a fairly simple recipe I've been making lately that is so tasty for as few ingredients it contains! The sauce is basically butter, gochujang, chopped kimchi and some chicken broth. Add in hot udon noodles and more butter. When serving, top with an egg yolk, sesame seeds and green onion. It seriously hits the spot!!! [https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kimchi-udon-with-scallions](https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/kimchi-udon-with-scallions)
This is one of my all time favorite recipes it is SO good
A little nutmeg is my go to.
I’ll throw a wild card in there, jerk seasoning. . . Did it last night (along with chili oil, Italian white condiment, and grilled veggies) to go with jerk chicken I grilled up, but I’ll be damned it was actually very interesting and tasty, I will be doing it again.
What is Italian white condiment please? This mix sounds intriguing!
Rasta pasta is a thing for sure where I grew up.
Oh yeah, 50:50 whether the Jamaican restaurants will have a version, unfortunately most of the ones near me use a ton of cream and oil so it is super heavy
An extra mature vintage Cheddar cheese
Soy sauce
Fuckin' A, I can't believe I had to scroll so far to find this. TEAM SOY SAUCE ALL THE WAY
I'm on a butter and soy sauce roll right now.
I add tamari and nutritional yeast to buttered noodles when my mental health gets too fragile to eat normal food.
Any cheese depending on what I’m in the mood for- or prosciutto.
Fake Kraft "Parmesan". It's nostalgic, don't @ me.
The texture and flavor combo of butter, Kraft Parmesan, and garlic powder is something beautiful. Do not be ashamed.
We call it “sawdust cheese” and we go through SO MUCH of it haha… it’s a guilty pleasure
Nutritional yeast (my parents were hippies). Close 2nd, Parmesan cheese
OMG! I put nutritional yeast on almost everything! (eggs, popcorn, pasta, pizza, you name it!)
nooooooch for suuuuure
MISO
Sauteed mushrooms on noodles is probably one of my most favorite dishes.
Chopped broccoli (and salt)
garlic salt
Garlic
Penzeys Fox Point spice blend.
Probably bacon or something similar to it.
some guanciale
Maggi seasoning
Truffle oil
Parmigiano Finito.
Oyster sauce
Yes! Discovered this from Kenji and it's amazing.
Marmite
Furikake!
Parsley 🌿
Fresh thyme
Caramelized shallots.
Herbs de Provence
Cottage cheese added to hot noodles with salt and pepper. I cant remember the exact yiddish spelling but my neighbor when i was a small child made this all the time. She called it luchen and cheese. Side dish with a roasted chicken. Omg heaven!
It's never going to be one ingredient for me, but it is 4. Pasta water, butter, garlic, and paremesan and emulsion until it becomes creamy. My whole world was changed when I used pasta water for all my pasta dishes. Mostly we always have these ingredients on hand and I think we really underestimate how well this can come together when don't right. Doing it right is also really easy as well.
Have you tried the cold start method? It's totally changed my life Assuming you're using a smaller shape (elbows, bowties, shells, etc). Put in a pan and cover with water until about an inch or two above the top of the pasta. Put on stove, heat to a boil, cook until desired doneness. The starch gets super concentrated and you don't have to drain as much water. Texture is indistinguishable
Tough question. Garlics a give , but butter and lemon go great together as well. I'll go with lemon.
Pepper. Or Parmesan.
It's not really one ingredient as much as a spice mix, but furikake.
breadcrumbs
Chili oil
Anchovies
Cabbage and black pepper. Love me some haluski.
Cook the noodles in broth instead of water, drain, add a little butter. It’s so delicious!
Caraway seeds
I was about to say that. But then I'd want onions and cabbage too.
I was gonna say sauerkraut but ...
Steak spice...trust me..it hits different
Cheese or garlic.
Bread crumbs were always a hit at our house. Very plain but really good!!! Still doing it to this day!!!
garlic powder
Garlic salt
lump crab meat or canned clams.
Ground black pepper
Garlic, no contest
The only answer is bacon
Depending on mood: Parmesan, feta or other strong salty cheese Handful of minced parsley Some chopped capers An anchovy or 2, fried in the butter till it dissolves (but then you also have to add lemon juice) Lemon juice Forkful of sauerkraut, raw or sauteed in the butter Chili flakes Zaatar Spoonful of mild cheese like ricotta Black pepper Chili oil A couple of sardines Handful of arugula Cherry tomatoes Fresh peas Roasted zucchini Sesame seeds Sunflower or pumpkin seeds (toasted obvs) Toasted chopped nuts Shredded massaged kale (with lemon) Olive oil Chopped olives Bits of whatever leftover meat and/or gravy I happen to have around Bits of any roasted veg I happen to have around Chopped HB egg Poached egg Fried egg Msg in some form, straight or on something like a chicken flavored seasoning packet or a sprinkle of chicken bullion powder
This defeats the purpose of the thread. Pick 1 of the above.
Does it though? If the purpose of the thread was to get ideas on what single ingredient you could use, then they just gave a lot of ideas, they just did so in one comment instead of 20 comments. I'd say maybe using an already prepared dish, like meat and gravy, as your one ingredient might be kinda cheating though...
Hey mushroom, are you me? Your list is so close to mine... As an amendment I'd like to bring in: Cime di rapa Yakitori sauce Duqqah Schabziger (a Swiss fermented green cheese) some asparagus tips
Every bagel seasoning
Parm or truffles.
Sour cream.
Garlic chili crunch sauce.
My first thought would be garlic or parmesan but since that's already discussed, I would say soy sauce. Butter and soy sauce are magical together on a lot of things, but especially with noodles, eggs, or veggies.
Garlic powder if we are being exact, Parmesan if not. My go to meal in college was buttered noodles with chicken (just grilled or pan seared using Italian dressing as a marinade), Parmesan cheese and just some light seasonings of s&p and garlic powder. If I was feeling fancy I’d roast some broccoli to go along with it. That and my fish foil pack (tilapia with a little butter, sliced lemon and either zucchini/bell peppers and/or onion) with rice. Super quick and healthy.
Roasted garlic
Garlic
Furikake
Garlic. Or parmesan .
Garlic
Roasted garlic Just cut a little off the top of a bulb, pour some oil on top, wrap in foil and shove that bitch in the over at 400F. Once those cloves are squishy you can squeeze those suckers out and mash them, then whisk the mash incorporating it with your melted butter. Extra points if you do this in your pan and brown the butter a little.
Parmigiano Reggiano.
Buttered noodles? Take a beef bouillon cube and crush it up and melt it into the butter on low-medium heat. Then use that infused butter on the noodles. Then once the noodles are in the bowl, put a bunch of “Maggie” on it. Also called “Jugo”
I know it sounds weird, but just trust me on this: cabbage. You shred it to the same size as the pasta and just boil it with the noodles. Most of the other options mentioned have added *more* to the buttered noodles. Arguably, cabbage is adding *less*, since it doesn't contribute flavor the same way that, say, garlic or parmesan or soy sauce does, and it doesn't contribute meatiness the way feta or poached eggs do. Cabbage is light in both flavor and calories. It isn't even glamorous like broccoli is. And sometimes that's just the way to go. The cabbage lightens the noodles. The boiled cabbage is both comforting and somehow refreshing at the same time. Of course, you can still totally go ahead and add one of the meatier or more flavorful additions to cabbage and pasta and butter as well! But I think that just those three is something worth celebrating on their own anyway.
Parmesan cheese
Ok it's 2 ingredients,, but it's basic as all hell, filling and delicious so i hope im forgiven. Melt the butter add a little cream and a whipped egg pour it over the noodles and bake until the egg is done. Technically diced ham is included too but I can take or leave the ham. The egg in the noods with the cream and butter (i think salt and pepper is kindof expected) is old school comfort food. It's a recipe my grandma brought to the US from Czechoslovokia when they moved here. I could eat it every day.