The Easiest Pasta with Butter and Cheese

Hello and welcome! After yesterday’s easy, yet involved recipe for Chinese Pork Dumplings, let’s make something super simple. A recipe you can turn to when you want something fast, delicious and satisfying. A recipe you can customize with clean-out-the-fridge veggies or leftover cooked meat – anything goes. Pasta with Butter and Cheese is the original Fettuccine Alfredo, which never contained heavy cream. We will achieve a creamy, rich sauce with just butter, Parmesan cheese, pasta cooking water and a little elbow grease. Let’s do it!

If you’ve ben following Djalali Cooks for a while now, you will recognize this technique of using starchy pasta water stirred with a fat like butter or bacon fat to create a smooth, glossy, creamy sauce without any heavy cream.

Cook the Pasta

I am using Fettuccine but you can use any pasta shape you like. Set 3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot over high heat. While we wait on the water to boil, grate 2 cups of Parmesan cheese. We do want to use a block of cheese and grate it ourselves for this because the pre-grated cheese is often coated with cellulose. Cellulose keeps the pre-grated cheese from clumping, but it also keeps it from melting evenly, and we are looking for a silky smooth sauce.

Cut the 5 tablespoons of butter into 4-5 pieces. And that’s it for prep! When the water is boiling, add 1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt to the water, then add the pasta. Set a timer for 8 minutes and test the pasta doneness beginning at the 8-minute mark. For almost al dente, Fettuccine will cook for about 9 minutes.

When the pasta is just about to al dente, ladle out 2 cups of pasta water into a measuring cup and set aside. Drain the pasta and without shaking off the excess water in the colander, add it back to the pot. Add the butter, cheese and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Turn the heat up to medium-low and use tongs in the closed position to vigorously stir the pasta.

It will look all wrong at first. It will be super watery. But as we vigorously stir the pasta with the starchy water, butter and cheese the pasta will continue cooking and soaking up the water, creating a thick, smooth sauce. Keep adding a drizzle of pasta water as needed to keep the mixture smooth.

Keep stirring until a smooth, creamy, glossy sauce coats the pasta.

If you have any add-ins, like leftover chicken, heat them in the microwave and add them to the pasta at this point. If you want to add a veggie like broccoli florets, you can steam them in the microwave or boil until tender and add the cooked veg to the pasta at this point. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the pasta rest for 3 minutes. Then stir again (drizzle in more pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed) and serve.

Pasta with Butter and Cheese

Serve in a warmed, wide shallow bowl and top with fresh cracked black pepper and more grated Parmesan, if you like.

Be sure to keep that reserved pasta water to reinvigorate any leftover pasta. In fact, you can ladle out and save a few cups of it and stash it in the fridge. When you want to reheat any leftover pasta, just drizzle in the pasta water and stir the pasta again over medium-low heat to reheat and loosen up the sauce, restoring its creamy, glossy texture.

This recipe for Pasta with Butter and Cheese is an easy one to memorize and the technique is one you can apply to so many other pasta dishes. It really opens up a world of pasta preparation for dishes that will easily rival any restaurant pasta. Just try Bacon and Corn Pasta with Tomato Salad or Rigatoni with Pancetta and Spring Peas to see what I mean! Have a great week, take care and be well, xo Kelly

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Pasta with Butter and Cheese

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Dinner, Main Course – Italian

By America's Test Kitchen – Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 15 Minutes – Cooking Time: 20 Minutes – Total Time: ~35 Minutes

The easiest pasta recipe has only three ingredients: Pasta, Parmesan Cheese and Butter. But the real magic is the starchy pasta water.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Fettuccine
• 1.5 tbsp. Kosher Salt (for seasoning the pasta water)
• 2 cups Parmesan Cheese, grated, plus extra for serving
• 5 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut into 5 pieces
• Black Pepper, optional, for serving

Instructions

1

Set 3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot over high heat.

2

When the water is boiling, add 1.5 tablespoons of kosher salt to the water, then add the pasta. Set a timer for 8 minutes and test the pasta doneness beginning at the 8-minute mark. For almost al dente, Fettuccine will cook for about 9 minutes.

3

When the pasta is just about to al dente, ladle out 2 cups of pasta water into a measuring cup and set aside.

4

Drain the pasta and without shaking off the excess water in the colander, add it back to the pot.

5

Add the butter, cheese and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Turn the heat up to medium-low and vigorously stir the pasta.

6

It will look all wrong at first. It will be super watery. But as we vigorously stir the pasta with the starchy water, butter and cheese the pasta will continue cooking and soaking up the water, creating a thick, smooth sauce. Keep adding a drizzle of pasta water as needed to keep the mixture smooth.

7

Keep stirring until a smooth, creamy, glossy sauce coats the pasta.

8

Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the pasta rest for about 3 minutes. Then stir again (add a drizzle more of pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed) and serve.

9

Serve in a warmed, wide shallow bowl and top with fresh cracked black pepper and more grated Parmesan, if you like.

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