Let me eat pasta every day and I will be happy forever.
For me, pasta is one of the wonders of the world. Tasty, comforting and you can make all kinds of different dishes with it.
What's even more fun is that you can make a dish that is restaurant level delicious in less than 15 min!
Today I wanted to make cacio e Pepe.
A classic Italian dish, mostly identified with area of Rome.
It does not require a lot of ingredients or a lot of time. And it's super yummy!
Cacio e Pepe is basically a dish of pasta with pecorino cheese and black pepper. Lots of black pepper!
With the cheese and the water of the pasta we create a smooth cream sauce that gently wraps the pasta and blends well with the taste of the black pepper.
All you need to make this dish is pasta (preferably thick spaghetti or Linguine), pecorino cheese (you can also add parmesan but it is important to use aged parmesan - it has more rich flavours), water, salt and black pepper. That's it!
Ingredients:
250 grams of spaghetti or linguine
Water
2 tablespoons sea salt
2-3 flat tablespoons of ground black pepper
6 tablespoons grated pecorino cheese
Preparation:
Boil water in a pot to cook the pasta.
When the water has boiled add 2 tablespoons of salt and the pasta.
Cook the pasta 3 minutes less than what is written on the package.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a pan and add the black pepper. No oil needed. We just want to open up the flavors of the pepper. Heat the black pepper for a minute or two, make sure that it does not burn.
A few minutes after you started to cooke the pasta. Take half a cup of water from the water of the pasta, transfer to the pan with the pepper and transfer the pan to a low heat.
Take some more of the pasta water, just a little! And mix well in a bowl along with the grated cheese until a kind of puree is formed.
When the pasta is ready (remember - cook 3 minutes less than the cooking time indicated on the package) Transfer it to the pan with the black pepper and water. Add another half cup of the pasta water, some more ground black pepper, mix well and bring to a boil.
I do not add any more salt because there is the saltiness that comes from the water of the pasta and cheese. For me it is satisfying. If you want to salt more, do so at the end after you have tasted it.
Turn off the heat, add the cheese and mix quickly and vigorously until it is completely absorbed in the water of the pasta and it becomes like a creamy, smooth and velvety textured sauce. No remnants of the cheese should remain.
It is important to note that this is a dish that is served as soon as it is ready!
That is, in less than 15 minutes you have a fun and delicious dish.
Enjoy! :)
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