Fettuccine with Four Cheese Sauce

The trick to this sauce is to have all the cheese grated as fine as possible, because the only heat that will melt them comes from the hot-just-cooked pasta. Ricotta salata, by the way, is essentially fresh ricotta that's been salted, drained of it's whey and slightly aged. If you can't find ricotta salata use feta or farmer's cheese.

Recipe Ingredients:

1 pound fettuccine pasta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley
2 ounces provolone cheese, shredded
2 ounces ricotta salata, crumbled
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Coarse gourmet or kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water just before adding the pasta and cook according to manufacturer's suggestions, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
2. While the pasta is cooking heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic and parsley. Add pinch of salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid.
3. Drain pasta and toss it in a serving bowl with the garlic mixture. Immediately toss in the cheeses adding more salt and ground black pepper as needed.

Makes 4 servings.