Cacio e Pepe

I've recently stumbled upon several recipes for Cacio e Pepe. A dish that seems so simple it looks like you don't need a recipe for it. I often make butter/olive oil noodles and sprinkle with cheese and pepper. After delving into some of the recipes, I found that a few subtle tricks can make an otherwise plain dish pretty powerful.

I found these recipes helpful. 1 2 3 4

This is how we ended up making it:

1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh cracked pepper
2 cups freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Spaghetti - enough for 4 servings
Kosher Salt

Boil 3 quarts salted water for the pasta. Cook until al dente. I cooked ours for 8-9 mins. Drain, reserving 1.5 cups pasta water for the sauce.

We heated the olive oil in our trusty cast iron skillet on medium high heat. A few minutes should do the trick. Toss in the pepper, and stand back!

Pepper and Olive Oil

The addition causes the oil to pop a bit. Let the pepper infuse the oil for a minute or two. Next, add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water and really stand back!

Steamy!

You might want to turn on the hood fan. Ours was crackling and steamy for a few minutes. Let boil for a few minutes longer. I was afraid it was going to be too watery, so I let it boil longer than it needed to and ended up pouring more pasta water in at the end.

Next, add your pasta and toss it around to coat it with the sauce. Gently fold in or toss the cheese. Some commenters on the recipes listed above had a problem with clumpy cheese. I think the trick is freshly grated and finely grated cheese. I added the cheese slowly in three additions and it did not clump at all.

I turned the heat off while I was mixing the cheese in. I let it sit in the warm pan while tossing for a few minutes to make sure the cheese melted and the pasta was coated evenly. This is when i added about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to make it easier to toss. I also sprinkled with a little salt. Not much is necessary, but obviously, use as much or as little as you'd like.

Plate, sprinkle with some extra cheese if you wish, and eat! It was flavorful without being overpowering. I think cooking the pepper in the oil first really brings out the flavor and allows the pepper flavor to evenly coat the pasta.

A Cup of Jo added some lemon to her dish, which I think would complement the flavors nicely. Next time I will add some lemon juice and zest to see how it fits. I will also try this dish with butter, or a butter/oil mixture, rather than  just using olive oil.

Overall, it is a simple dish and an easy way to spice up a meal with ingredients you already have in your arsenal!