Pasta Fontina

This is the pasta you make on a weeknight when you want something that tastes far more impressive than the work involved. Five ingredients, one skillet, one pot of water. The whole trick is the brown butter: unsalted butter melted in a wide skillet and swirled until the milk solids turn the color of toffee and throw off a nutty, almost hazelnut aroma. Pull it the second it hits golden brown. A few more seconds and it turns acrid.

While the butter browns, a pound of hot linguine goes straight from the boil into a warmed bowl. Grated Fontina does the melting, its buttery Alpine funk softening into strands against the pasta. Asiago brings the sharper, salty edge that keeps things from tipping into too-rich territory. Drizzle the browned butter over, toss hard, scatter minced parsley, and eat right now.

Pro Tips

• Warm the serving bowl with hot pasta water first. A cold bowl kills the cheese melt instantly.
• Reserve half a cup of starchy pasta water before draining. Splash in a few tablespoons if the toss feels dry; it emulsifies the butter and cheese into a glossy coat.
• Grate both cheeses fresh on the large holes of a box grater. Pre-shredded bagged cheese has anti-caking starch that refuses to melt cleanly.
• Watch the butter. Swirl the pan constantly and listen for the foam to quiet, which signals the browning stage.

Variations

• With black pepper: Crack a heavy hand of black pepper over the top to turn this into a cacio-e-pepe cousin.
• Garlic brown butter: Toss a smashed garlic clove into the butter as it browns, then fish it out before tossing.
• Sage: Drop 6 fresh sage leaves into the butter for the last 30 seconds of browning for a classic Northern Italian twist.