Instant Pot Cacio e Pepe

In another #quarantine cooking post, I forgot to take hamburger out of the freezer for the Instant Pot spaghetti w meat sauce and although you can use frozen meat in the Instant Pot, for this recipe, you still need to thaw the hamburger ahead of time. This recipe is easy because it is meatless and done in about 10 minutes total. I usually like to use a full pound of pasta, plus this recipe calls for spaghetti, but I had leftover fettuccine. Plus there is just 2 of us. I also found some garlic knots in the freezer and we made Caesar salad.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams dry spaghetti (fettuccine)
• 4 c water
• 2/3 tsp. salt for the pasta water
• 1 - 2 T butter
• 1/2 c. of the pasta water
• 3.5 oz grated parmesan cheese (about 1 c)
• 1 tsp or more fresh ground black pepper (should be coarse)

Directions:

1. Break noodles in half to fit into inner pot of IP. Add the 4 c. water and salt, submerge noodles.
2. Seal IP and put on Manual for 3 minutes with 7 minute NPR.  Once 7 minutes is up, quick release. Be careful. You may want to put a clean dishcloth on vent as bubbles of water spew out sometimes.
3. Turn off IP. Scoop out noodles to drain and save 1/2 c. of the pasta water.
4. Once noodles are drained, put inner pot back in, turn it to saute and saute the butter and fresh ground black pepper. The pepper should "bloom" in flavor with the butter. Once butter starts to bubble, turn off IP.  Quickly add pasta, liquid and cheese. Mix thoroughly and put it in a serving plate otherwise the cheese starts to cease up and it burns in the pan. 
5. Check flavor and add more salt, pepper or cheese. Serve immediately.