Pastina with butter and cheese was a childhood favorite of mine. The noodles are just a bit larger than couscous. My mother would boil and drain them, holding back a little of the starchy water, then stir in butter and a good amount of grated Parmesan cheese. Any kind of pasta with butter and cheese still ranks high on my list of preferred comfort foods, but I never thought to put a poached egg in it, as they do with the cavatelli at Raccolto.
Here they cook the tiny, shell-like noodles risotto-style, stirring vigorously to create a rich emulsion of Irish butter, sea-salted pasta water and enough cracked black pepper to leave the lips tingling. The poached egg and Parmigiano-Reggiano are optional add-ins, though, I would argue, essential. The result is pure goodness: soupy, rich and fragrant.
