Black Garlic Pappardelle Pasta

Black Garlic Pappardelle Pasta highlights the unique and delicious flavor of the often mysterious black garlic. This is a beautiful, vegetarian, main course dish that will wow everyone. Black garlic recipes are becoming more popular, as more people are learning about the super cool ingredient. 

While this black garlic pasta recipe is a simple to make, with only a few ingredients, its flavors are complex, deep and rich.

Black garlic is one of the coolest, most interesting ingredients, and this dish will totally impress your guests. Always a hit, it's a delicious main course that you can add all sorts of vegetables and/or protein to.

What is black garlic?

Black Garlic is not a variety of garlic. It's a common garlic that is aged for anywhere from a month to many months, as it's fermented under high heat.

This special process transforms the garlic into a very dark brownish-black color.

It also creates a soft texture and sweet taste while it removes the strong smell and sharpness.

If you ever want to try to make your own black garlic at home, here is a great guide. You'll likely need a black garlic fermenter, which is on my cooking gift guide.

Ingredients for Black Garlic Pasta

• black garlic - Black garlic typically comes wrapped in a bag, and can often be found in the specialty section of the produce department in the grocery store. (More on this below.)
• Pappardelle pasta - The wide noodles are excellent in this recipe, though you can use any shape you like.
• extra virgin olive oil - I use this one.
• shallots - Shallots are slightly more mild and delicate than red onions. Try to choose those that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
• white wine - A dry white wine is best like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling or Pinot Grigio.
• unsalted butter - It's best to cook (and bake) with unsalted butter so you can control exactly how much salt is in the recipe.
• chives - Choose perky bright green bunches.
• salt - I cook with Kosher salt. I prefer it because of its larger flake size, it's less refined and usually doesn't contain additives, and it does a great job enhancing the flavor of foods without making them taste salty. (If you use table salt, use half the amount.)
• black pepper - Preferably freshly ground.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions

• Pappardelle. You can substitute this with any shape of pasta you love.
• Shallots. Thinly sliced red onion can be used instead of the shallots. Keep in mind they have a slightly sharper flavor.
• White wine. If you don't want to use wine, substitute it with vegetable or chicken stock plus about 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
• chives. The chive garnish can be substituted with chervil, finely chopped basil, parsley or green onions.

Recipe Tips

• You can expect black garlic to be sticky, unlike roasted garlic. And your fingers might look a bit brown after you chop it, but don't worry as it'll wash right off.
• If the black garlic cloves are on the small side, you don't have to chop them.
• This might seem like quite a bit of black garlic. Most black garlic recipes don't use quite as much as I do in this pasta. With such a tasty not-too-strong sweet flavor, in my experience, it's delicious to really highlight it as the star ingredient.
• If you prefer smaller bites of the garlic, finely chop it. Tasting it before you use it in the recipe will help you make this decision.

How to Make it

- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until it's al dente. (Al dente means "to the tooth." The pasta should be tender, but with a bite to it.) Drain, toss with olive oil, cover and set aside.



- Peel all of the black garlic. Keep in mind the cloves will be soft, so peel them carefully. They should peel very easily, but if they don’t, use a paring knife to make a slit in the skins.

- Roughly chop the peeled black garlic cloves, keeping them in relatively large chunks.

- Coat the bottom of a large sauté pan with olive oil, and place it over medium heat.  Add the sliced shallots and cook until they are soft and beginning to brown. Add the black garlic and mix. Then add the wine, turn the heat to high, and let it reduce by about ⅓. Add the butter and swirl the pan around until it's melted into the wine. Season generously to taste with salt and pepper.

- Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the sauce and very gently toss everything together.

- Sprinkle with the chopped chives and serve.

Serving Suggestions

Black Garlic Pappardelle Pasta is a fantastic lunch or dinner and you can mix it up with some additions.

• Add roasted chicken, shrimp scallops, or steak to it for an even heartier meal.
• Brighten it up with sautéed spinach, kale or zucchini.
• Black garlic pairs especially will with these sherry mushrooms, which would be excellent mixed into the pasta.
• Of course, you can always add Parmesan cheese, and it's also great topped with crumbled goat cheese.
• You can also make just the sauce and spoon it over fish, shrimp or chicken or steak.

Black Garlic FAQ

Other Uses for Black Garlic

Aside from pasta dishes, black garlic can be used in all sorts of other recipes. Below are a few delicious ideas.

• Finely chop or purée it to use in sauces, dressings, marinades and compound butters.
• Add it to rice dishes and stir-fries.
• Blend it into soups or mashed potatoes.

More Recipes with Black Garlic

• Black Garlic, Sesame, Shiitake Black Cod
• Grilled Potato Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as my family and I do!

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