Peanut sauce is delicious. Peanut butter is delicious. One day, while I was a poor, single bachelor, living in a flat on my own, I had the revelation that peanut butter that is just made from peanuts - you know, the kind that separates - is basically 90% of the way to a peanut sauce.

So I took a scoop of peanut butter and put it on my spaghetti.

It didn’t work very well and it looked awful, but it was actually really tasty. The version I present to you here is slightly more work, but at least it won’t turn your noodles deliciously grey and lumpy.

Time: Ten to fifteen minutes

Stuff You’ll Need

• Your noodles of choice! Whatever you’re used to is best.
• Real peanut butter, the kind that’s a little speckly, not the smooth yellow-brown kind with all the stabilisers and sugar and stuff. I like Smuckers Natural.
• Oil, preferably something like olive oil or avocado oil or peanut oil and not canola oil, but canola oil will do in a pinch.
• Ground black pepper and salt
• If you want it to have a bit of a kick, chili powder or whatever hot pepper powder you like to use.
• A pasta pot and strainer.
• A small bowl
• A regular spoon, the kind you eat with.

Directions

1. Start the noodles cooking the way you usually do.
2. Scoop some peanut butter into the small bowl, however much looks good. A spoonful per 1/4lb dry pasta is a good minimum, in my opinion.
3. Pour some oil over the peanut butter and mix it together. Use about half as much oil as peanut butter or so; it’s flexible. The oil thins the peanut butter into the right consistency for a sauce, so it’s really just how thickly coated you want your noodles to be.
4. Add your pepper, salt, and optional hot powders.
5. Stir, then give it a tiny little taste. It should be strong. It doesn’t coat the noodles very thickly and noodles have a strong flavor dampening effect, so if the salts and spices aren’t screaming at you from that tiny taste, it is probably too mildly seasoned.
6. Drain your noodles as usual, put back in the pot, and pour the peanut sauce over them, tossing a few times.
7. Serve and enjoy!

BUT BEFORE YOU GO. A note about step five!! If you love udon noodles and you buy those soft precooked udon noodles, check if they are pre-salted. I had a package which was pre-salted. I have never had pre-salted noodles before. I used the normal amount of soy sauce in my noodle stiry fry and it was almost inedible, I was heartbroken.

Learn from my mistakes. Check if your soft noodles are pre-salted.