Cacio E Pepe Potato chips

I will never turn my back on a classic potato chip, and as my entertaining style veers from wildly overambitious (damn you, Martha Stewart years) to rare-but-beautiful times when I think to edit the menu down before I’m in a hard sweat an hour before people arrive. At some point, I realized that we all love potato chips, and would seriously love someone to serve a giant bowl of chips without judgment. These chips walk the line between

Makes 1 bag of chips (aka 2 servings)

1 8-oz bag kettle-cooked potato chips (see note)

2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese

3 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400°F.

Arrange the chips on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 3 minutes (you just want to heat them up so the oils come to the surface; it makes the cheese and pepper adhere to the chips a bit better).

Remove the baking sheet from oven, and sprinkle the cheese evenly over chips. Top them evenly with black pepper.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the chips sit for 5 minutes, until the cheese has adhered to the chips. Transfer the chips to a bowl and serve—these are especially nice with Champagne and crab dip or caviar, but equally fulfilling with sour cream dip and light beer.

Note: Yes, you need kettle-cooked chips; they are sturdy enough to take the weight of the cheese and to balance all the flavor of the cheese and pepper.