Description
The butter board trend — softened butter spread across a board and topped with herbs, honey, and flaky salt for bread dipping — was fun, but it always felt like it needed a next step. This is that step. The same compound butter concept gets tossed with hot pasta, where it melts into a glossy, herb-flecked sauce that clings to every noodle. Simple, luxurious, and done in twenty minutes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 lb bucatini or spaghetti
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in heavily salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
- While the pasta cooks, mash the softened butter with the garlic, honey, lemon zest, chives, dill, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined.
- Drain the pasta and return it to the pot over low heat. Add the compound butter and toss vigorously until the butter melts and coats every strand.
- Add the Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss until the sauce is glossy and emulsified, adding more pasta water a tablespoon at a time if needed.
- Transfer to a serving platter. Finish with extra flaky salt, a drizzle of honey, and more fresh herbs.
Notes
- The butter must be fully softened — not melted, softened. Room-temperature butter emulsifies with the pasta water into a creamy sauce; melted butter just pools.
- Pasta water is the secret sauce here. The starch in the water binds with the fat and creates that glossy, restaurant-quality coating.
- Bucatini is the ideal shape because the hollow center traps the butter sauce inside each noodle, but spaghetti works well too.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Italian-American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 510
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 580
- Fat: 22
- Carbohydrates: 64
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 14
- Cholesterol: 55