Ingredients
1 pound, 6 ounces Fresh Fettuccine
Kosher salt
7 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted buffalo's-milk butter, cold and cubed (see cook's note)
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted cow's-milk butter, cold and cubed
50 grinds black pepper, plus more for serving
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon finely grated 2-year-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup plus rounded 3 tablespoons coarsely grated 5-year-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano (or more 2-year-aged, if you can't find it)
Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the water. Place a large sauté pan over low heat and add 2 to 3 ladles (1/2 to 3/4 cup) of boiling water to pan. Add both butters and swirl contents of pan to emulsify. Add black pepper and stir to combine.
Add fettuccine to boiling water; cook 1 to 2 minutes, until tender but not soft. Using tongs or a pasta basket, remove pasta from pot and transfer to sauté pan; increase heat to medium. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes to marry pasta and sauce. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup pasta-cooking water and continue tossing.
Remove from heat. Gradually add finely grated Parmigiano while tossing to integrate. If sauce begins to tighten, add a splash of pasta-cooking water to loosen and continue tossing to integrate. Serve pasta, garnished with coarsely grated Parmigiano and pepper.
Adapted with permission from Pasta: The Spirit and Craft of Italy’s Greatest Food, with Recipes, by Missy Robbins and Talia Baiocchi, copyright© 2021. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
