This is the butter version of the Raw Olive Oil dressing for pasta on page 107. I make it at least four times a week, whenever Lorenzo and perhaps some of his cousins want “cheesy pasta” or gnocchi.

Ingredients

　　To make them happy I just toss hot pasta—dry tubettini, fettuccine, or gnocchi—in a warm bowl with soft butter and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano in about the same proportions as in the Butter and Fresh Sage Sauce. Yet this is not just kid food: butter and cheese are time-honored condiments for pasta with a twist of freshly ground black pepper.

　　From Lidia's Family table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright (c) 2004 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Knopf.Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York. Jay Jacob's journalism has appeared in many national magazines.From the Trade Paperback edition.