Tasty Tuesday!

I can't believe another week has flown by. We've been busy, especially with my husband's best man in town for their annual baseball bacchanalia. In between their treks up to Miller Park and down to Wrigley, I managed to do some cooking for them, for which they were most appreciative. I was even proactively brought a venti caramel macchiato by said friend one morning.

Their favorite was the steak I made for them last year that is always a favorite. But since I posted that one already, I figured I'd go with their second favorite menu item of the week.

Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Pecorino

Ingredients:
8 oz spaghetti, uncooked
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (or more -- you can never have enough garlic!)
2 T butter
1 T black pepper, freshly ground
2 c pecorino Romano cheese
salt, to taste

Directions:
in a large saucepan or stockpot bring four quarts water to boil. Add spaghetti, and cook until the pasta is al dente (don't over cook it, please -- just for me). Reserve at least one cup of the water when draining. Do NOT rinse the pasta.

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil. When hot, add the garlic. Saute until just barely golden, then remove garlic immediately (but not the olive oil). Add the butter and pepper to the pan.

Return 1/2 cup of the reserved water to the saucepan, add the olive oil mixture, and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Stir and heat over medium.

Add the pasta and toss for three minutes until the cheese is melted. Add additional reserved water if it seems too dry. Season with salt to taste.

Place the pasta into a large bowl and top with the reserved garlic. Serve immediately with reserved 1/2 cup cheese.

I love recipes like this that are super easy but really look like you put so much more time and effort into them. In fact, I think I need to make this again this week, now that I think about it. Yum!

Check out recipes like this at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Blessed by Grace each week.

Enjoy!