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Italian Style Spaghetti
Cook the desired amount of spaghetti whole and long in boiling salted water till tender, but not oversoft. To each 2 cups of it add 3 tablespoons butter and toss it in a chafing dish between two forks until butter is absorbed by the spaghetti. Then add 1 cup grated cheese and a small can tomato paste diluted with half the can of water. Keep tossing spaghetti gently over the chafing dish water (double boiler will do) until cheese is melted and all is very hot. Serve with a small amount grated cheese sprinkled over the top, or passed at table in a separate dish. It is best to use Parmesan cheese for this dish.
A very early American take on cacio e pepe logic — butter and cheese emulsified over gentle heat, with tomato paste for body and colour. The whole thing hinges on keeping the temperature low.
- The chafing dishA chafing dish is a pan heated over a spirit lamp, often with a pan of hot water set between flame and food; that is the arrangement the recipe assumes when it offers "double boiler will do". The point is indirect heat: over a direct flame the cheese clumps and the butter separates out as grease.
- Save the cooking waterThe recipe says nothing about it, but a spoonful or two of starchy cooking water carried over with the spaghetti helps the butter and cheese cling rather than separate.
- Tomato paste can size"A small can" in this era was commonly the 6 oz size, which makes "half the can of water" roughly a third of a cup. If your paste tastes sharper or thicker than the recipe seems to expect, start with half and add more to taste rather than dumping in the whole tin.
- Cheese, grated fineUse a wedge of real Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano and grate it fine yourself. Pre-grated cheese carries anti-caking starch and will go grainy in a butter sauce.
- "Tender, but not oversoft"This is al dente stated the long way round. Err on the firm side, since the spaghetti then sits over heat while the cheese melts.
- Whole and longNot breaking the strands was worth saying: period American recipes not infrequently directed cooks to snap spaghetti into short lengths before boiling. It also matters practically — long strands are what you can toss between two forks.
- YieldTwo cups of cooked spaghetti is a single generous serving or two small ones. The proportions scale straightforwardly — 3 tablespoons butter and 1 cup cheese per 2 cups pasta, which is rich by modern standards; two-thirds of that butter is plenty.
- Salt at the endBetween salted cooking water and a cup of Parmesan, the dish is close to fully seasoned. Taste before adding any more.