Recipe: Cacio e pepe
Take any Italian dish and you can bet there’s bound to be disagreement among Italians about the truly traditional regional preparation. And the simpler the dish, the greater the differences of opinion.
The same goes for the Roman pasta dish cacio e pepe (Ancient Roman for cheese and pepper), for which there are more recipes than there are Romans. Such as the one by Leonardo Vignoli of restaurant Cesae al Casaletto, recorded by Italian-American New York Times food writer Katie Parla in her cookbook Tasting Rome.
Katie’s tip: “Finely grated pecorino and boiling water are essential for a smooth sauce. But speed is most important. If the water cools before the cheese melts, you’ll get lumps.”
Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to the boil over high heat. Salt the water. Add the pasta as soon as the salt has dissolved, and cook until al dente.
In a large bowl, mix 150 grams of the pecorino, the pepper and a small ladleful of the cooking water. Stir firmly and quickly until you have a thick sauce.
Remove the al dente pasta from the pan with tongs and quickly add it to the sauce in the bowl. Meanwhile, keep the cooking water boiling. Stir vigorously and, if necessary, add another teaspoon of cooking water at a time, until the cheese has melted and the juicy sauce completely coats the pasta.
Divide the pasta among the plates and sprinkle the remaining pecorino over it. Grind some extra black pepper over it. Mangia subito!
Recipe: Katie Parla and Kristina Gill, Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes from an Ancient City
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