Cacio e Pepe - Vincenzo's Plate
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp Rock Salt
150g Spaghetti PER PERSON
3/4 Cup (45g) FRESHLY GRATED Pecorino Romano PER PERSON (Do not use the pregrated stuff from the store. It won't melt right)
1 tbsp Pepper
METHOD
1. Boil the water in a large pot.
2. When the water comes to boil, add rock salt and let it dissolve.
3. Add the pasta to the boiling water.
4. Place a nonstick pan on medium heat and sprinkle the freshly cracked pepper in it, spreading it out evenly over the bottom of the pan.
5. Leave the pepper to lightly toast on low heat for a 3-4 minutes or until the pepper is fragrant.
6. Grate the pecorino cheese into a bowl.
7. Once the pepper has been toasting for a few minutes, use a ladle and scoop out a ladle-full of pasta water into the pan with the pepper.
8. Now, add half a ladle of water to the bowl of grated cheese and mix together using a fork or a spatula to create a thick paste. Don’t add too much or it will become runny. (If it does, add extra grated pecorino cheese to thicken it up again). It should almost be the consistency of ricotta.
9. Once the pasta is done, remove it from the boiling water using tongs and place it into the frying pan.
10. Add a ladle-full of pasta water to the frying pan. Mix together really well. If you notice the water drying up, add some more pasta water and keep mixing.
11. After mixing this constantly for 2 minutes, turn the heat off, and add the cheesy paste to the pan. Do your best to help the cheese melt and dissolve into the water. For the perfect cacio e pepe, there shouldn’t be any stringy or thick pieces of cheese in your pasta.
12. Combine all of this for at least another minute or until all of your cheese is dissolved.