As a student of Italian for 5 years, I still haven't mastered the language, but I feel as if I have a pretty good sense of the food. While I love Italian American classics, I hold a special spot in my heart for simple pastas that deliver big on flavor in the most satisfying ways.
This brings me to the magic of pasta water. Adding a few ladlefuls to pasta and sauce takes it from good to great. The concept is incredibly simple and makes perfect sense - the water thins out the sauce so it can coat every nook and cranny of the noodle, while the starch creates a silky consistency that helps it cling to each piece of pasta.
When preparing almost any type of sauce from marinara to a simple brown butter, I always add a few scoops of pasta water. Getting it to the right consistency is all in wrist (and forearm). I set up my just undercooked pasta in a large (the bigger the better here) sauté pan with some sauce and ladle in some pasta water. With the heat on medium low, I vigorously stir the pasta with a spaghetti spoon for several minutes until the sauce has been absorbed and the remaining liquid has evaporated. The vigorous stirring almost feels like whisking to me and it ensures that you don't end up with noodles and sauce floating around in starchy water.
One of the simplest pastas I prepare is a take on cacio e pepe. Who doesn't love cheese and black pepper? While the ingredient list is short, it is so important to have high quality ingredients - good cheese and freshly ground black pepper - and to focus on the technique. My recipe only uses parmesan cheese because I just never have pecorino in the house, but feel free to use one or the other or a combination.
Casual Cacio e Pepe
Thick spaghetti
Good quality parmesan (and/or pecorino) cheese
Butter
Salt
Pepper
Bring a pot of water to a boil and aggressively salt it
Cook spaghetti to a minute under the time on the box
While the spaghetti is cooking grate a decent amount of cheese (at least 1/4 cup per serving) - I like to use a microplane so the cheese is very finely grated and melts beautifully
Melt a tablespoon of butter per serving in a large sauté pan over medium low heat
Once the pasta is ready, use a spaghetti spoon to add it to the sauté pan (don't dump out the water!)
Season with salt and LOTS of pepper
Add several ladlefuls of pasta water
Vigorously stir so that the water absorbs, the pasta finishes cooking, and you have an almost creamy sauce coating the noodles
Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese
Serve with a few extra grates of cheese and some freshly cracked black pepper and eat immediately!