Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

Here are your tools–black pepper, spaghetti, water, salt, butter and cheese–now make something delicious. Ok? Go.

Maybe it’s because these ingredients are so unglamorous that I shied away from spaghetti cacio e pepe for so long. Sure, it’s a classic Italian spaghetti dish, but I’ve always favored the ones with garlic and anchovies (see my Weary Traveler’s Spaghetti, for example) over this one made with cheese and black pepper, regardless of how much my friends rave over it.