Cacio E Pepe

I can't think of too many ways that I'd rather spend a Wednesday afternoon than gathered around my kitchen island with a group of friends making homemade pasta.  I had dedicated one afternoon to ravioli making so I could fill my freezer with some of the delicious homemade pasta and I invited my friends to join me because cooking is always more fun with friends.🍝👩🏻‍🍳  We armed ourselves with aprons, lots of flour, a few dozen eggs and an electric pasta maker and got to work.👩🏻‍🍳 

At the end of the afternoon there was flour covering every countertop, all over the floor (and us) and trays and trays of homemade ravioli.😅  We filled my freezer but also our plates with hand crafted ravioli and fettuccini.  Every bite tasted like the sweet satisfaction of a delicious meal that we'd made ourselves.😋  

If you're looking for my ravioli recipe, you can check it out here:  Homemade butternut squash ravioli.  Since I already shared that recipe, I'll post another popular pasta dish that I've been waiting to share.  
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Cacio E Pepe is a very straightforward pasta dish.  3 ingredients - pasta, pepper and cheese.  Easy, right?  Sometimes I feel like the simpler the recipe, the harder it is to "get it right."🤷🏻‍♀️  You can make this Cacio E Pepe with homemade pasta or boxed pasta just make sure you use the best cheese that you can find.  It WILL make a difference.  Trust me.   

Cacio E Pepe
4 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 2/3 cups Pecorino Romano cheese, cut into 1/2" pieces
12 ounces linguini

Toast peppercorns over medium heat in Dutch oven for 3-4 minutes. 

Grind in a spice grinder until coarsely ground. 

Process pecorino in food processor until finely ground.  

With processor running, add 1/4 cup hot water and process until sour cream consistency.  (about 1 minute)

Scrape down sides of bowl and process 1 more minute.  

Boil water in Dutch oven.  Add pasta and 1/2 t. salt and cook until al dente.  Reserve 1 cup cooking water.  

Combine 2 T. of reserved cooking water and 1 1/2 t. pepper in large bowl.  

Use tongs to transfer pasta to bowl with pepper.

Add 1/4 c. cooking water and half of cheese paste.  Toss 1-2 minutes. 

Add remaining paste and toss until sauce is melted.  

Warm bowl over leftover pasta water in Dutch oven if it cools.  Serve in warm bowls with leftover pepper.  

Ciao!

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