Name: Spaghetti cacio e pepe
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 200g spaghetti; olive oil; butter; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 50g parmesan, finely grated (we used Parmigiano Reggiano)

200g spaghetti
olive oil
butter
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
50g parmesan
finely grated (we used Parmigiano Reggiano)

Method

step 1
Cook the spaghetti in lots of boiling salted water until just tender. drain, saving a cupful of the cooking water. Meanwhile put 2 tbsp olive oil and a large knob of butter in a wide shallow pan with the pepper, then heat until melted.
step 2
Cook for a minute then tip in the spaghetti and 2 tbsp cooking water. Stir a few times, then add the cheese and another 2 tbsp water and toss together. The water, cheese and butter comes together to make a creamy ‘sauce’, so add a splash more water if you need to. Serve with more parmesan, if you like.