Alright, so I decided to give this noodles almondine recipe a whirl today. Sounded simple enough, and I had most of the stuff lying around.
First thing, I got everything out on the counter. You need noodles, of course. I just used some regular spaghetti I had. Then butter, a good amount. Garlic, gotta have garlic. And the main thing, almonds. The recipe said slivered, but I only had whole ones, so I spent a bit chopping them up roughly. A bit annoying, but whatever works.
Next up, toasting those almonds. I threw them into a dry skillet over medium heat. You really gotta watch these things, seriously. Look away for a second and they’ll burn. Happened to me once before. Shook the pan around until they got golden brown and smelled nutty. Took ’em out and set aside.
Making the actual dish
Then, the pasta. Got a big pot of water boiling. Threw in a good pinch of salt – always salt your pasta water, makes a difference. Dumped the spaghetti in. Cooked it like the package said, maybe a minute less ’cause I like it with a bit of bite, you know, al dente. Once it was done, drained it, but kept a little bit of that starchy pasta water aside, just in case.
While the pasta was cooking, I used the same skillet from the almonds. Why make more dishes, right? Melted a good chunk of butter in there. Once it was melted and foamy, tossed in the chopped garlic. Let that cook for like, a minute? Until you could really smell it, but not brown. Don’t burn the garlic, tastes awful.
Okay, garlic’s smelling good. I threw the toasted almonds back into the skillet with the butter and garlic. Stirred that around. Then, dumped the drained spaghetti right into the skillet. Used tongs to toss everything together, making sure the noodles got coated in that buttery, garlicky stuff. If it looked a bit dry, I’d add a splash of that pasta water I saved. Helps make it saucy.
Finished it off with a squeeze of lemon juice. Adds a bit of brightness, cuts through the richness of the butter. Tossed in some chopped parsley I had too, mostly for color, makes it look nicer. Added salt and pepper, tasted it, added a bit more salt. You gotta taste and adjust.
And that was basically it. Scooped it onto a plate. It’s pretty much just fancy buttered noodles with nuts, let’s be honest. But it tasted good! Comfort food, really quick to make. The toasted almonds are the best part, give it that nice crunch. Pretty straightforward, decent meal if you need something fast.
