Asiago Noodles

A butter-and-cream reduction for two. No flour. Small saucepan.

Need

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 small shallots, minced fine (about ¼ cup)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup finely grated asiago, plus a little more for the plate
• zest of 1 lemon, yellow only
• coarse black pepper
• kosher salt

Pasta

• 250g dried pasta, half of the 500g bag
• coarse kosher sea salt: 1¾ Tbsp in the usual full pot of water. Half the water, use ⅞ Tbsp.

Sauce

1. Butter, medium-low. Shallots and a pinch of salt. Sweat until soft and clear, about 4 minutes. Keep them pale.
2. Cream in. Gentle simmer until it coats a spoon, 4–6 minutes. Leave it a little looser than the finished sauce. The cheese thickens it.
3. Off the heat. Stir in the asiago a handful at a time until it melts. A dead-low burner only if a few grains are still sitting there.
4. Zest, then pepper. Taste. Add salt only if the cheese fell short.

Toss with the pasta and a splash of the pasta water. More asiago and zest at the plate if you want it louder. Juice stays at the table so the cream stays smooth.

Grate the asiago off the block. The sandy pre-grated kind stays grainy in cream.