Ingredients
Method
- Fill a large pot with water and add a generous tablespoon of salt. Bring it to a rolling boil. Add your pasta and cook it according to the package directions, but aim for “al dente,” which means the noodle still has a slight firmness when you bite into it.
- Before you drain the pasta, take a measuring cup and scoop out about a cup of the boiling pasta water.
- In the same pot you used for the pasta, melt the stick of butter over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook the garlic for about two minutes, stirring constantly.
- If you are using heavy cream for a richer version, pour it into the butter and garlic now. Whisk it together and let it simmer for one minute.
- If you are skipping the cream, simply move on to the next step. Add half of your reserved pasta water to the butter.
- Add the cooked noodles back into the pot with the garlic butter. Use tongs to toss the pasta thoroughly so every strand is coated.
- While the noodles are still hot, sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese and the black pepper
- If the noodles look a little dry or the cheese is clumping, add a few more splashes of the reserved pasta water. This will loosen the sauce and make it silky again. Stir in the fresh parsley at the very end to keep its color bright and its flavor fresh.
- Serve the noodles immediately in warm bowls, perhaps with an extra dusting of cheese on top for good measure.
Notes
The most frequent mistake is letting the pasta sit in the colander for too long after draining. If the noodles get cold and stick together, they won’t absorb the sauce properly.
You want to move the pasta directly from the strainer back into the butter while it is still steaming hot. This ensures the starch on the surface of the noodle is active and ready to bond with the fat.