California Style Buttered Pasta Recipe

California and Italy have much in common, which explains why many simple Italian dishes featuring fresh ingredients are popular in the Golden State. One dish that deliciously merges the Old World with the new is California-Style Buttered Pasta. 

While red sauce is the most familiar match for Italian pasta, as you move into Northern Italy the tomatoes and olive oil give way to creamy butter as a popular pasta topping. Northern Italy is a major dairy region, much like California, which is the largest milk and butter producer in the U.S.

This delicious dish couldn't be simpler to prepare, combining cooked pasta with the rich natural taste of California butter. The dish comes together as quickly as you can cook the pasta. 

A topping of toasted bread crumbs adds a pleasing crunch. And for a uniquely California variation, substitute grated Dry Jack for Parmesan. Dry Jack is an aged form of the ever-popular Monterey Jack, both of which were created in California. 

Hearty enough to serve as a main course with a green salad on the side, California-Style Buttered Pasta is also a perfect accompaniment to any type of meat or chicken dish. It also goes well with fish because its rich yet subtle flavors do not overwhelm even the most delicate fish.

This recipe works best with slightly wider forms of pasta, such as linguini or fettuccini, which provide a nice balance between the pasta and butter coating. It will also work nicely with a penne or rigatoni style of pasta. But feel free to use your favorite type. 

CALIFORNIA-STYLE BUTTERED PASTA

Yield: 3-4 entrée servings 

or 6-8 as a side dish

1 pound (16 ounces) dried or fresh linguini 

2 tablespoons salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) California butter

1 cup (4 ounces) freshly grated California Dry Jack or Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a large (6-8 quart) pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta.

2. While pasta is cooking, cut butter into 1-inch pieces and set aside to soften.

3. When pasta is cooked to desired doneness, drain in a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Return drained pasta to the cooking pot and add butter, half the grated cheese and half the bread crumbs. Toss, coating well. Add the reserved pasta water to moisten. Season with freshly ground black pepper. 

4. Transfer to a serving bowl or portion into individual pasta bowls and sprinkle remaining cheese and bread crumbs on top. Serve immediately.

For a simple and hearty meal or a delicious side dish, try California-Style Buttered Pasta.

Butter Cream Icing Recipes

Recipe 1

• 1 ½ cups of different types of vegetable shortenings 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons flavors (colorless) 
• 2 pounds of confectioner’s sugar 
• ¼ to ½ cup of water or milk (water is a good choice, but milk goes well with lavender color) 

Combine all the shortenings, flavorings, and salts thoroughly. Add the powdered sugar. Slowly add water and gently mix all the ingredients until well blended. You will notice that after 2-3 minutes, the mixture will become creamy. 

Notes: 

a) Try to keep the amount in exactly the same quantity as mentioned above. If you introduce lots of variations, you may not get the desired butter cream icing.

b) If you want to make your icing thin, add three to four big spoonfuls of corn syrup.

c) If you want to make chocolate butter cream, all you need to do is add ¾ cup of cocoa powder or three one ounce chocolate squares, mixed with one to two tablespoons of milk, to the other ingredients and proceed to mix well. 

Recipe 2

• ½ cup vegetable shortening 
• ½ cup of soft butter (you can add margarine also) 
• 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar 
• 2 tablespoons water (milk) 
• ½ teaspoon almond, for flavor 
• A dash of salt 

Mix the shortening, butter, and almond. Add confectioner’s sugar and gently mix by hand. Continue to add other ingredients and mix quickly, for six to seven minutes. 

Here, too, you can add ¼ or 1/3 cup of cocoa powder to make chocolate butter cream. 

If the icing is quite thin, you may add more powdered sugar, and in case you find it stiff, put a few drops of water or milk into it. 

Recipe 3 

Butter cream icing, which has a snow-white appearance as well as a yummy taste, is the best choice for frosting a cake. This so-called “snow white butter cream” is mostly used for decorating wedding cakes or any flat-surfaced cake and for making nail flowers. Remember to dry the flowers uncovered for at least a day. Flowers like apple blossoms or drop flowers are ready for use after four to five hours of air drying. 

The good thing about snow-white butter cream is that it does not need refrigeration to become consistent and boasts a delicious taste as well. Here’s a recipe for this delicious icing:

• 2/3 cup of water 
• 4 tablespoons of meringue powder 
• 12 cups confectioner’s sugar 
• 1 ¼ cups  vegetable shortening 
• ¾ teaspoon salt 
• ½ teaspoon almond (for flavor) 
• ½ teaspoon vanilla (for flavor) 
• ¼ teaspoon butter (for flavor) 

Combine water and meringue powder in a bowl and mix it fast. Next, add four cups of confectioner’s sugar, one at a time. Mix the sugar at fast speed and lower the speed with each addition. Add the shortening, remaining sugar, salt, almond, vanilla, and butter, and mix them gently. 

Note: All of the above butter cream icings are easy to make and yummy to taste, you can make all of them at one time and determine which one best suits the different designs on your cake.