Is this video showing an exception of the common wisdom that you shouldn’t cook with EVOO

For this dish, you'll probably want to use a low-end extra-light oil (since it's being heated quite a bit), and then drizzle in nicer extra virgin oil to finish the flavor after the pasta has been tossed into the cheese, oil, and spices.

The rule of thumb is to have two kinds of olive oil:

• High-grade, richly flavored extra virgin olive oil (for finishing)
• Extra light, not extra-virgin olive oil for use as a cooking oil. You can use a cheaper oil for this -- many people choose to use a later pressing, crudo or "pure olive oil" (in the US) kind.

The high-end oil is for adding it to sauces and drizzling on mostly-finished dishes to add that rich flavor. You're looking for something with a lot of taste, and it's a good idea to get small amounts of pricier oil. Getting small bottles means you'll be using fresher, more flavorful oil because it hasn't been open for long. Plus, you won't need much to finish dishes. Note that for this use, you want to add the oil near the end of cooking, as heat will alter and weaken the flavor.

The low-end light olive oil should be of neutral or light flavor, and will be more tolerant of heating than extra-virgin. Because it has a much higher smoke point than extra-virgin grade oil, use this in recipes calling for heating up olive oil. If necessary for flavor, add some of the good stuff near the end of cooking.

It's certainly safe. Butter, Oil, whatever, it's more about taste than anything else. Some people even push lard and butter as the "safe" options, because they require less processing than oil, and much less than margarine.

One thing which you should be aware of in regards to butter vs oil: butter has a significant amount of water in it, so you shouldn't substitute 1-to-1, or you will have a stronger flavour (and more fat) than perhaps you want.

If you're accustomed to salted butter, adding some salt will help ease the transition. If the flavour of olive oil is off-putting, there are plenty of more neutral flavoured oils that have a similar fat composition, or you can simply avoid extra virgin olive oil*.

*extra virgin olive oil in the U.S is largely a scam. In most of the world (countries that adhere to the IOC standard) this signifies "First Cold Press" olive oil. In the US it signifies "lamp grade olive oil with green food coloring". There are no restrictions on the use of terms like "extra virgin" in the US, so you can't guarantee that's what you're really getting just because it's on the label.