How to Make Za’atar Cacio E Pepe

Reach for your widest, deepest pan. As I mentioned, it really helps to have the proper pan here. Rather than cooking your dried bucatini pasta in a large pot, you’ll be cooking it in a wide, deep pan, so grab something that will easily fit a full pound of the long pasta and the seven cups of water.
Cook the pasta just shy of al dente. While the recipe says to cook the paste to al dente, you’ll be cooking it a few minutes more in the sauce, so I suggest draining it a minute or two before it’s al dente. That way you don’t have to worry about mushy noodles.
Drain the pasta water into a large, spouted bowl, if you have one. You’ll be saving all of the pasta water when you drain the pasta, so it’s useful to set your colander over a large, heatproof bowl with a pourable spot (aka a batter bowl). That way you can easily pour the hot water back into the pan when you need it without making a mess.
Use the same pan you cooked the pasta in to make the sauce. Don’t bother dirtying another pan to make the sauce. After you drain the pasta, return the pan to the stove and begin melting the butter.

Ingredients