Mini Penne Pasta with Browned Butter and Parmesan Cheese

We all have our favorite dishes we like to cook for dinner and pasta with browned butter and parmesan cheese is one of mine.  I cook dinner at least five nights a week for my family.  My toddlers are picky eaters so cooking something everyone will actually eat can be a challenge.  But pasta, now pasta they will eat and they'll ask for seconds.  Like most people I have a baked mac and cheese recipe I swear by, but that takes lots of time to prepare and bake.  So when I want a delicious pasta that doesn't take forever, I think of browned butter and parmesan cheese pasta.  My husband thought up this dish and he showed me how to make it.  You can use any type of pasta you want-wheat, gluten-free, spaghetti, penne.  It doesn't matter because we're using lots of butter and cheese and anything tastes good with butter and cheese. 

If you've never browned your butter then now's the time to learn and try it yourself.  Your taste buds will thank you.  Tonight, I cooked three cups of mini penne because I want left-overs for tomorrow.  I used mini penne because its easier for my boys to eat.  Then to make the brown butter, take a sauté pan and set the heat to medium heat.  I used about five tablespoons of butter from grass fed cows and cooked the butter until it just started to brown.  You'll be able to tell when its ready because the smell is amazing.  Remove the pan from the heat because you don't want all that scrumptious butter to burn, then pour your cooked pasta into the pan and mix well with the butter.  Our family uses only this butter because its better for you and more heart healthy then plain butter.  Yes, its pricier but I think we're all worth it.  

Now for that lovely parmesan cheese.  Once your butter and pasta is stirred nicely together, and I mean you can see every little piece of penne is glistening in that glorious browned butter, you may add the cheese and stir again.  Then plate up your pasta into serving dishes and just for fun because we like it cheesy around here, sprinkle a little more parmesan over your pasta.  You can use any parmesan you want, the stuff in the bottle works great and the fresh imported parmesan also does the trick.  The trick with cooking is to utilize whatever's in the pantry and fridge and hopefully, with a little luck, your family will clean their plates.