Cacio E Pepe : Cheese and Pepper Pasta

Cacio e pepe is one of our favorite dishes. It's a traditional Roman style pasta, and translates to "cheese and pepper." The ingredients are simple, but using the highest quality of those ingredients yields the best results. I've made this pasta with inexpensive ingredients from Walmart, and I've made this with high-quality ingredients from Whole Foods. Because there are so few ingredients in this dish, you can definitely taste a difference when you use the higher quality...it's so worth it!

So here is how it's made...


Ingredients:
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of Parmesan
1/4 cup of Romano or Asiago
1 lb of Linguini Pasta
Black Pepper corns (freshly ground) to Taste
Salt to Taste
1/4-1/2 cup of Reserve Pasta Water

Directions:
1. Boil Pasta
2. While boiling pasta, in a deep skillet, melt butter along with a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.
3. Drain pasta, reserving at least 1/2 cup of the water.
4. Add pasta to the skillet and stir, mixing well with butter and pepper.
5. Add 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of Romano (or Asiago). Stir and mix well on low-medium heat.
6. Add more reserved pasta water to loosen sauce if needed and to make the mixture more creamy.
7. Top with salt, remaining cheese, and additional pepper.