For company
Burnt butter sauce with candied pine nuts
Butter cooked to hazelnut brown, sharpened with lemon and sage, poured over pasta and finished with pine nuts lacquered in caramel and salt.
Three ingredients and a nose. The moment butter smells like toasted hazelnuts, it is done — five seconds later it is bitter and gone.
Method
- 01
For the candied pine nuts: toast them in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking constantly, until they are pale gold. They burn in seconds, so do not walk away.
- 02
Add the sugar and water to the pan and stir as the syrup bubbles, thickens and turns amber, coating every nut. About 2 to 3 minutes.
- 03
Tip them onto a sheet of baking paper, separate them quickly with a fork, scatter with flaky salt and leave to set hard. Break up any clusters once cool.
- 04
For the burnt butter: melt the butter in a light-coloured pan — stainless steel, so you can see the colour — over medium heat.
- 05
It will foam, then quieten, then the milk solids at the bottom will start to turn golden. Swirl the pan continuously and watch for nut-brown flecks and a smell like toasted hazelnuts. That is beurre noisette.
- 06
Throw in the sage leaves; they will crackle and crisp in about 20 seconds. Immediately take the pan off the heat.
- 07
Squeeze in the lemon juice — it will hiss and stop the cooking dead — and grind in black pepper.
- 08
Slide in the drained ravioli and turn them through the sauce, then scatter over the candied pine nuts just before serving so they stay crisp.
Keep cooking
