Macaronada Recipe

Brooke noticed I had Macaronda on the menu this week and commented, so I thought I'd post the recipe. It's also really appropriate for Brooke because it's an easy vegetarian dish.

I learned to make this while working at Luigi's Restaurant through college and it's a big hit when we have company. It's basically spaghetti sauteed in garlic & butter, then topped with feta cheese.

Luigi's Macaronda

12 oz. spaghetti noodles
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 T. fresh garlic, crushed
3 T. butter
oregano

Cook spaghetti. When the noodles are finished, turn on a frying pan and drop the butter in. Drain the noodles. Add the fresh garlic to the now melted butter and stir it until it just starts to turn brown. Add the drained noodles to the pan and let it cook about three minutes, tossing the noodles several times to coat them with the butter and garlic. Divide the noodles onto four plates and top with 1/4 cup feta each and sprinkle with oregano. Voila!

Notes:

• I usually use olive oil in place of some of the butter. The butter tastes best and you have to use at least 1/2 butter to sautee the garlic well and not burn it.
• You must use fresh garlic in this dish. Refrigerated garlic-in-a-jar doesn't do this justice.
• I sometimes add 2 cups of cooked, diced chicken during the tossing stage.
• You can adjust the feta amount depending on how much you like it This is also tasty with mizithra cheese if you don't care for feta.

I've never written a recipe before and I almost never measure when I make this dish, so I hope it's understandable!

Katie