Cacio E Pepe
Recipe by Flavio Carnevale of Marta
Serves 4
‘Cheese and Pepper’ is a simple to prepare Roman pasta dish that relies on best quality ingredients along with starchy pasta cooking water to enrich the sauce and coat the pasta.
30g black peppercorns
1 teaspoon sea salt
400g tonnarelli or spaghettoni
400g Pecorino Romano, plus more for finishing dish, finely grated
130g Parmigiano-Reggiano (aged 24 months), finely grated
500ml lukewarm water
Place the peppercorns in a small frying pan and toast over high heat until fragrant. Roughly crush with mortar and pestle.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Remove 500ml water and cool to lukewarm. Add salt and pasta to remaining water and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally.
Place grated cheeses in a Smeg hand blender mini chopper.
Remove 500ml water and allow it to cool to lukewarm. Then add salt to the rest of boiling water for the pasta. Add the pasta to the pot of remaining water (approx. 3.5ltr) (we make fresh tonnarelli daily but you can also buy dry pasta) – it should be covered. Stir occasionally during cooking.
Gradually add the lukewarm water to the cheeses in the bowl but not all at once so you can manage consistency. Blend with a hand blender or by hand until mixture is dense and smooth. Pour the cheese base into a dry pan without heat.
Continue to stir pasta. When pasta is al dente, lightly drain in a colander (but retain a little moisture in the pasta) and pour it directly into the pan still without heat with the cheese base so that some of the cooking water emulsifies with the base. Immediately put your pan on the stove on low heat, add some of the hand ground pepper and stir gently until the mixture of cheese sauce coats the pasta.
To serve, divide in a twirl amongst 4 bowls, sprinkle grated cheese and pepper. Mix to eat.
Recipe created with the Smeg Stand Mixer, pasta cutter attachment and Hand Blender.
