Tortellini with Lemon-Brown Butter and Dill
Nibbles & Bites Issue #22: Puppy Brain
Big life news! We put a deposit down on a puppy that will be ready to go home at the end of January, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to become puppy parents this winter. If you have any ideas for names, please send them my way. I’m building out my list of potential options and as of right now, we’ve settled on naming the puppy Ina Garden (just kidding, but don’t tempt me).
I’m already planning on making homemade dog treats for our pup, and while they’ll be fed high quality kibble, I’m plotting on getting creative with toppers - think greek yogurt, steamed sweet potato, chicken meatballs or some elaborate pork sprinkles. I’ve recently been fascinated by TikTok’s from people who feed their dogs raw diets, and although I can’t commit to preparing our labradoodle an exclusive diet of elk, bison, wild caught salmon, egg yolks and pumpkin puree, those dogs sure are living the life.
Also, can anyone please tell me what the deal is with the mental enrichment bowls for dogs? Will I be holding my puppy back if I don’t keep their mind stimulated by serving their food in a maze of a dog bowl and partially freezing their food before dinner time?
Anyway, I’ll keep my puppy-mom worries at bay for now. It’s officially the beginning of fall in New York, which means that everyone is unearthing their cable knit sweaters, boots and long socks, but keeping their Birkenstocks close to the front door in the event that it hits above 80 degrees unexpectedly.
With the start of fall in New York comes the onslaught of recipes featuring pumpkin spice. You cannot hide from them, however I can promise you that there will be absolutely zero pumpkin spice recipes hitting your inbox from me this fall. This may be a blasphemous statement, but I strongly believe that pumpkin spice only belongs in pumpkin pie, and I recoil at the thought of it infiltrating perfectly good stuffed pastas, chips, dips and the entire snack section of Trader Joe’s as well as every coffee shop serving lattes in Brooklyn. It’s inescapable, but I can offer you a safe haven here.
And with that promise, let me introduce you to my newest fall favorite recipe, my Tortellini with Brown Butter and Dill. It’s simple, delicious and truly out of this world. I tend to have an abundance of herbs in my fridge, so I also threw in some chopped parsley for extra herbaceousness. It is the perfect comforting weeknight meal that feels slightly fancy without being precious at all.
I hope you enjoy it, and please do send me your suggestions for dog names if you have them!
Tortellini with Brown Butter and Dill
Ingredients
2 cups cheese or spinach tortellini
2 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (smoked paprika)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup of chopped dill, plus more for serving
¼ cup chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the tortellini and cook 2 minutes less than the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water in a small measuring cup and drain the pasta.
Meanwhile, in a medium pan placed over medium-high heat allow the butter to brown until slightly nutty. Remove from direct heat and add the chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for 30 seconds to a minute until slightly golden. Quickly add the drained tortellini, half of the reserved pasta water, chopped dill, parsley, crushed pepper flakes, a few cracks of black pepper, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir to combine until the residual heat of the pan allows the pasta water to cook off.
Transfer to a serving bowl and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and more chopped dill. Enjoy!