Cacio E Pepe

 

Cacio E Pepe
Adapted from Bon Appétit


Ingredients

• salt
• 6 oz. pasta (I used Trader Joe's organic spaghetti, a favorite of mine)
• 3 tbs. butter 
• 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup Parmesan and Romano blend

Method 

1.  Fill your biggest pasta pot and bring the water to a boil. Heavily salt the water.
2. Add pasta and cook until it's 2 minutes away from being perfectly al dente. Save around a cup of the pasta water before draining.
3. In the same pot melt 2 tbs. of your butter. Add the pepper and toast for about a minute.
4. Add 1/2 a cup of the reserved pasta water to the pan and bring to a simmer. 
5. Add pasta and remaining butter. 
6. Reduce heat to low, and add cheese. Toss and cook until pasta is al dente. Add more water as needed.
7. Serve with grated cheese and some more pepper on top.

YOU GUYS. Can there be anything better than cheese, pasta, and butter? I'll wait.

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See? You can't think of anything can you? It's that delectable. 

Ever since Aziz Ansari's Master of None brought this dish to the forefront of hipster food culture I have wanted to make it for myself. I have had me a pretty good bowl or two of cacio e pepe in Italian restaurants, but like the saying goes: Buy a girl a bowl of pasta, she eats for a night. Teach her how to make adult mac and cheese and give it a fancy Italian name and she has an insanely delicious and indulgent recipe to make in her pjs to eat in bed whenever she wants. But I digress. 

This recipe looks a little daunting because the method is very specific, but once you break it down into simple steps it's not so scary. Plus the minimal ingredient list is a huge bonus. I added garlic which may not be traditional, but garlic is never optional when I cook pasta. 

It's literally butter, garlic, pasta, and cheese--you can't mess this up.