Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat up a second wide bowl: fill it with boiling water and leave the water in the bowl for a few minutes before pouring it out again. Strain the pasta and put it into the warm, dried bowl. Put some pasta water aside.

Add a third of the butter to the pasta and stir with a fork until the pasta has fully absorbed the fat. Now add one third of the cheese as well as a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water and continue stirring until the sauce is mixed in with the pasta. The starch in the pasta water binds the sauce and makes it particularly creamy.

Repeat this process twice with the remaining butter and cheese. This explains why the dish is also called fettuccine triplo burro. Adding the butter to the pasta in small amounts is crucial for the taste and the right consistency: the pasta cannot absorb too much butter at once. Season with fresh ground pepper and enjoy warm.