Buttered Noodles with Toasted Sage

When I was a kid, one of my favorite side dishes was very fine egg noodles with butter, parmesan and parsley.  Mom made it regularly.  And, I'd have been happy with weekly.  I didn't make it for Connie for several years after we met.  It was one of those forgotten treasures.  Finally, one evening I didn't have a second side and the noodles popped into my mind.  He loved them as much as I did.  So, we've had them a couple of times a year since. 

I read this recipe and thought it looked like a complicated version of Mom's.  Not too certain I wanted to put the effort into that.  But, Connie and I both love toasted sage so what the heck. 

What did we think?  It was worth the extra effort.  Kind of like homemade salad dressing versus store-bought.  I'll stick with my Mom's recipe for most of the time.  But, this will be a couple of times a year treat.

Buttered Noodles with Toasted Sage

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature
1/2 c sage leaves, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 t chopped rosemary
2 1/2 c chicken stock
1 lb wide egg noodles
1/2 c plus 2 T freshly grated Parmesan or Romano

Directions:

Start a large pot of water on high heat.  Melt 4 T of butter in a large sauce pan.  Once the butter is melted and sizzling, put the sage in. 

Stir frequently and cook until it's crispy.  Remove it with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.  Add another tablespoon of the butter to the same skilled and add the garlic and rosemary. 

Once they're fragrant, add the chicken stock. 

Let the mixture come to a boil.  Once it reduces to a cup of liquid, remove the saucepan from the heat.  Cover it to retain most of the heat.  Cook the noodles until they're al dente.  Drain the cooking liquid and pour the noodles into the large saucepan.  Toss them with the chicken broth, the remaining three tablespoons of butter and 1/2 c of the grated cheese.  Serve topped with the toasted sage and the balance of the grated cheese. 

adapted from Food and Wine