Preparation: 5 min. / Cooking: 3 to 8 min. depending on pasta / Servings: 2
Cacio e Pepe rigatoni, which literally means cheese and pepper pasta. A recipe with only three ingredients: pasta, pecorino romano and black pepper. Originally from Rome, it is a very old dish because the cheese was one of the first condiments for pasta, before the tomato sauce. While they may seem easy to make, pasta cacio e pepe requires good products, accompanied by a good dosage and a good marriage of all the ingredients. The sauce is made with pasta cooking water, operation not always obvious. To our recipe we added oven dried cherry tomatoes and lemon zests. Gourmet and quick to prepare cacio e pepe pasta is a must in Roman cuisine, to be enjoyed at any time.
Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) pasta: Rigatoni, spaghetti or other kind
1 1/3 cup Pecorino Romano or grated Parmesan, or both in equal parts
2 to 4 tbsp. (30 to 60 ml) extra virgin olive oil *View product
2 tsp. (10 mL) freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. of lemon zest
Oven dried cherry tomatoes optional
Preparation
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta in boiling salted water as directed. Reserve 1 cup (250 mL) cooking water before draining pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl add grated cheese and olive oil with ½ cup of pasta cooking water, until smooth. Mix well and add pepper. Add the drained pasta directly to bowl, adding cooking water to liquefy sauce if necessary.
Serve immediately with dried cherry tomatoes (optional) and lemon zest and enjoy!