Cacio e pepe, ramen-style.

This recipe comes from the very first issue of Lucky Peach magazine - which I just picked up a couple days ago, and is truthfully wonderful. (As my luck would have it, this edition is devoted to ramen.) Dave Chang, one of the editors, puts forth this dish as "an insult to traditional Italian cooking, I'm sure, but it's the apogee of dorm-room cooking, another way to stretch that dollar." I would call it cute hybrid monster baby ramen that wants to be mafia when it grows up.
This is not the most attractive dish you will ever make - but it is quite tasty and very simple. I may have a slight bias based on how much I love the combination of pecorino and fresh pepper, though.

Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups grated pecorino Romano
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 2 packages instant ramen, seasoning packets discarded

Directions:
Combine water, butter, oil, and "a healthy dose" of fresh black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it all to a boil. Stir. Reduce heat so the mixture simmers quickly and steadily. Stir in the cheese, then immediately add the noodle bricks and keep stirring so the cheese doesn't clump up.
Once the noodles start separating, stir them constantly. If it looks like there is way more liquid than the noodles will absorb, pour some out. After 3 or 4 minutes, the noodles should be loose and rehydrated. Most of the liquid should be gone.
Split the noodles between two serving bowls. Grind more black pepper over each, and more cheese if desired.

Chang notes - and I'll back it up - that this should be eaten quickly. After awhile the lovely goopy cheese sauce thickens up so much that it turns the ramen into a sticky brick.