Tonnarelli cacio e pepe: the original recipe
One of the most famous pasta dish of the roman cuisine is Cacio e Pepe.
You need only three ingredients: pasta, cheese and pepper. Easy isn’t it? Not at all. The few steps, which seem very simple, actually need to be very detailed and precise. Follow us step by step.
Firstly: the peculiarity of the pecorino romano.
To prepare a perfect cheese and pepper pasta, you have choose only pecorino romano . Why? This particular aged cheese has the ability, once heated, to turn into a cream, especially if mixed with hot water.
in fact cheeses with a high percentage of water melt better, while aged cheeses need higher temperatures to break the bonds between proteins. The percentage of water and pecorino must be one by one. Therefore, to obtain a perfect soft and velvety cream, heat, for example, 30 gr of pecorino with 30 gr of water.
Ingredients
- 400 g of spaghetti
- 200 g of pecorino romano
- black pepper
- cooking water
How to cook cacio e pepe
Boil tonnarelli (or spaghetti if you do not find fresh handmade pasta) in a big amount of water, until al dente. Remember that the cacio e pepe pasta must be al dente and for this it must be drained well before the time set on the package. Let’s say that the pasta must cook in boiling water for 5-6 minutes and for the rest of the time in a pan with the cooking water. Mix the pasta with a lots of grated pecorino cheese and a generous amount of freshly grounded black pepper adding boiling water. But do not get confused: choose original pecorino romano cheese, and, of course, a great brand of pasta.
Recommended wine: Frascati Superiore Riserva DOCG
