You make Cacio e Caviar. Here is a special touch for that popular cacio e pepe. Cheese and pepper. And asparagus and caviar. Simple.
Okay, first select a pasta. Bucatini is a good choice but tagliolini or spaghetti are also traditional. Cook your choice of pasta in salted water just until barely al dente and save out a half cup or so of the cooking water. Next you melt a few tablespoons of butter in a heavy pan and swirl in some black pepper. Grate some Parmesan, pecorino or even asiago – your choice — and add that to the butter pan. When the cheese has melted decide if the sauce is the right thickness. If not, add in a bit of that reserved starchy water from cooking the pasta. Now stir in the cooked pasta.
I like to have melted a bit of butter just for coating some shucked and gutted whole farmed scallops. This not only warms them, it gives them a luscious flavor and a special look. Plate the cooked pasta and top it with scallops and a few more gratings of cheese. Oh, yes, you saw that there are also cooked asparagus spears. Those are tossed in a little melted butter with a dash of lemon juice and they go handsomely around the dish.
Last but not least, top it all with spoonfuls of caviar. Last because you did not want it to actually cook. Not least… well, there is nothing least about this dish!