I recently returned from a wonderful trip through Switzerland and Northern Italy. As you can imagine, I took photos of everything we ate during the trip, from Champagne Truffle Cheese Fondue in St. Moritz. amazing Tuna with Veal Sauce at Lake Como and many fantastic pasta and vegetable dishes in Florence. I have to say one of the most memorable dishes I had (yes, there are many) was Cacio e Pepe. After a long day of traveling and walking (I think our phones told us over 15,000 steps per day) we ducked into a delightful small restaurant for dinner. By this time in the trip I wanted to try a comfort dish and ordered Cacio e Pepe. This is basically pasta with cheese and black pepper. However, it is far more than that, it is the most magnificent simple combination that was just marvelous. I read various recipes and decided to try my version and it was delicious. What a great reminder of my dinner in Florence.
Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients
- 10 oz. spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Ramano cheese
Instructions
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Boil pasta in salted water for 9 minutes. While the pasta is cooking, in a large saucepan melt the butter with 2 tablespoons of water, add the pepper. When the pasta has boiled for 9 minutes, take 1 1/2 cups of the hot pasta water and add to butter mixture. Drain pasta and toss in the butter/pepper mixture. Increase heat and cook the pasta tossing constantly in the butter/pepper mixture until most of the water has evaporated (this will take about 3 minutes). Remove pasta from the heat and toss with the grated cheese, stir until well combined and all of the cheese has melted. Serve.
A few photos as we walked through Florence –
