Simple food...

One of the 4 classic Roman pasta dishes: Cacio e Pepe with the simplest of ingredients: cheese and pepper (and pasta).
Basically:
If you add guanciale (subtract pepper), it becomes spaghetti alla gricia.
If you add tomatoes and guanciale, it becomes spaghetti all’amatriciana.
If you add eggs and guanciale, it becomes spaghetti carbonara.

I didn’t think I’d like it but it was so delicious!

Try it!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese - 3 tbsp per person.
• 320g bucatini - 80g per person if having only one main course, 50g per person if first of two courses.
• Black pepper, freshly ground - plenty

Instructions:

1. Start cooking the pasta in a pot with boiling, salted, hot water. Use less water than you normally use (enough to submerge the pasta and a bit) because we want to have more starch in the water.
2. Cook the pasta to 3 minutes before the recommended time on the package.
3. In a saucepan, roast the black pepper on medium heat.
4. About a minute before the pasta is ready, add 2 ladles of the pasta water to the the saucepan.
5. When the pasta is ready, transfer them directly to the pan to mix with the pepper sauce. Preserve the pasta water for later.
6. Continue cooking for 3 minutes (until al dente). Add a ladle of pasta water if the pan gets too dry.
7. When the pasta is al dente. turn off the heat.
8. Put about 2 tablespoons (1/6 of total) of cheese aside for later. Add one ladle of pasta water to the cheese. Stir vigorously to make it into a thick creamy sauce (no lumps). Add more pasta water if needed.
9. Pour the “cream” into the pan and stir and mix quickly with a wooden spoon, making sure the pasta is all coated with the sauce. The sauce should cling to the pasta and be creamy but not watery.
10. Stir in the remaining cheese that you put aside earlier.
11. Plate the pasta, sprinkle with a bit more cheese and black pepper for presentation and serve immediately.

*Note:

1. Use enough water (and a bit) for the pasta to submerge, so the starch in the water is not diluted too much.
2. It’s best to do the cream after turning off the heat of the pasta. This allows the pan of the pasta to cool down a little bit because if your pan is too hot, the “cream” (cheese) will form lumps and / or being stringy.
3. If you don’t like goat’s cheese, you can replace Pecorino Romano with Parmigiano-Reggiano.