Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

Of all the famous pasta dishes invented in or adopted heartily by Rome—spaghetti alla carbonara, all’amatriciana, or alla puttanesca, maccheroni alla ricotta, penne all’arrab-biata, fettuccine Alfredo, and the rest, this is my favorite. I don’t recall exactly where I had it for the first time—maybe at Piccolo Mondo, or at the modest trattoria called La Buca di Ripetta—but I know that it surprised me with both its simplicity and its intensity of flavor