Cooking with Blobby

Of all the pasta dishes I have made, I have always kind of shied away from my husband's favourite: Cacio e Pepe.

If we ever go out to eat for Italian, it is his usual selection. I can see why. It's clean. Simple. And extremely flavourful. 

And there are a LOT of recipes out there for this dish. Some using only Pecorino, some with different blends of that and Parm. One had twice as much ground pepper than the one I ended up using. I love pepper, but the 1T I used was more than enough. I can't imagine it with double that. 

Some recipes used butter, some not. Either way none of them had a lot of ingredients. Shredding that much cheese took the longest, though you can probably do it while you bring your water to a boil. It's a very quick meal to make. 

For the record, I used bucatini as the pasta choice. 

Ingredients 

Yield: 4 servings 

Salt 

1 ½ cups finely grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for dusting completed dish 

1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 

1 tablespoon ground black pepper, plus more for finishing the dish 

¾ pound tonnarelli or other long pasta like linguine or spaghetti 

Good olive oil 

Preparation 

Step 1 Put a pot of salted water on to boil.

In a large bowl, combine the cheeses and black pepper; mash with just enough cold water to make a thick paste. Spread the paste evenly in the bowl. Image of cheese mixture in a bowl with a spoon for making Cacio e Pepe. 

Step 2 Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. The second before it is perfectly cooked (taste it frequently once it begins to soften), reserve a cup or so of the cooking water, then use tongs to quickly transfer the pasta to the bowl. Stir vigorously to coat the pasta, adding a teaspoon or two of olive oil and a bit of the pasta cooking water to thin the sauce if necessary. The sauce should cling to the pasta and be creamy but not watery. Image of tongs mixing sauced pasta for making Cacio e Pepe. 

Step 3 Plate and dust each dish with additional pecorino and pepper. Serve immediately.

It was good, but I can't say it was great. 

I try not to read the comments of people who made it because they rarely come. close to the original recipe to start. Afterwards here, I did. I mean, even one person said Kraft Parm was fine. 

But no matter how vigorously we tossed, the cheese (I'm guessing the pecorino) clumped here and there. Which isn't a deal breaker. But there is so much pepper in there, the clumps were grey. Those clumps looked like something you pulled out of a shower drain. It was unappetizing from visuals only. 

Some comments said it should not be done in a bowl but in a skillet over heat to melt them thar clumps. 

I will certainly try this again, but I'm finding another way to go.