Pasta in bianco is what an Italian eats when she's hungry, tired, or under the weather. Three ingredients, ten minutes, no sauce. The whole dish lives or dies by the pasta and the cheese, which is why this is the recipe we use to teach what slow-dried pasta actually tastes like.
If you've only had pasta with sauce, the first bite of pasta in bianco will feel almost too plain. Stay with it. By the third bite, the wheat is doing the work and you'll understand why the family in Umbria we work with dries it for 24 hours instead of three.
Set servings and units first. You can change them anytime.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt generously: it should taste like the sea (about 1 tablespoon per liter / quart).
Add the spaghetti. Cook 9 minutes. The pasta should still have bite when you pull it.
While the pasta cooks, grate the Parmigiano onto a wide plate.
Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining. Drain the spaghetti.
Return the pasta to the warm pot off the heat. Add the cubed butter, half the Parmigiano, and a generous splash of pasta water (start with 1/4 cup). Toss vigorously with the spoon for 30 seconds. The starches in the water should emulsify with the butter and cheese into a glossy sauce that coats every strand.
Add more pasta water by the tablespoon if it is dry. Add the rest of the Parmigiano. Toss again.
Plate immediately into the warmed bowl. Crack black pepper on top. Eat now, while it is still glossy.
You made Pasta in Bianco. Time to eat.
A new recipe in your inbox each month. No noise.
The pasta water is the whole technique. If your pasta in bianco breaks (oily butter pooling on top), it's because the water/cheese/butter ratio fell out of balance. Add a splash more pasta water and toss harder. It'll come back together.
Each Gusta product is hand-selected and imported direct from Italy. Add what you need, or grab the whole set in one click.
1 item in stock $29.47
Six Italian regions. Nothing reformulated. Imported direct.
No comments yet. Be the first.