From Greg Atkinson

When I asked Ruth Reichl to provide a menu based on recipes from her monumental Gourmet Cookbook, she suggested buttered noodles as an accompaniment to her oven-braised beef. I tried to find a recipe in The Gourmet Cookbook and discovered every other kind of noodle dish I could imagine, but not one for simple buttered noodles. Perhaps the dish is too simple to warrant a recipe, but whenever I used to offer buttered noodles as a complimentary entrée to young children who were intimidated by the very “grown-up” food I served at fine dining restaurants, their parents asked for the recipe. Stirring in a little of the water in which the noodles were cooked brings the butter and the residual starch left on the noodles into a creamy sauce. Serve this noodle dish by itself with a pinch of chopped parsley or as a side dish with any grilled or roast meat.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 gallon water
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 pound dried organic egg noodles
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted organic butter
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Grated Parmesan cheese as an accompaniment (optional)

1. Bring the water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a heavy, 6- to 8-quart pot. Stir the noodles into the water and boil until they are just tender, about 10 minutes, depending on the brand. (Start checking the noodles for doneness after 7 or 8 minutes; some brands cook very quickly.) Drain the noodles, saving a little of the cooking water to toss with the noodles.

2. Put the butter into the empty pot in which the noodles were boiled, and stir it around until it is melted. Toss the cooked noodles with the hot butter and stir in enough of the cooking liquid, a tablespoon at a time, to make a creamy sauce around the noodles.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and, if desired, fresh parsley. Pass the grated Parmesan separately.
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Greg Atkinson is author of West Coast Cooking and lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
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