Don't tell the Italians...

Every now and then, a myth gets exposed.  Yes, wooden chopping boards are more hygienic than plastic. No, mama does not have to stand in the kitchen for three quarters of an hour stirring the risotto. 

Every now and then a dish based on an arcane tradition becomes a hit.  
Casio e pepe is the pasta of the moment.  Catch it now before it slips away like last year's turmeric latte, celery juice and smashed avocado.  The recipe below also plays with a new way to cook pasta.  Don't tell the Italians. They might not believe you.

Casio e pepe  - Pasta with pepper and cream
(Possibly my favourite plates - Czech Eichwald Porcelain until 1939, now Cesky Porcelain. Grateful for any more information.)

Casio e pepe is cheesy and creamy without the addition of cream or oil, not that there's anything wrong with either.  The method is interesting and can be used any time for other combinations.
It's made from three ingredients. Three, if you don't count salt and water.
Pasta - Pecorino - black pepper - that's it.
The recipe is for two people.  It's best made just when you want to eat it and for no more than four people at a time.

Use good quality spaghetti (rather than say, lasagne) - one of the  brands with a rough, white, flaky surface. The pasta is cooked in a shallow pan, not in lots of boiling water.  This way, the starch from the pasta is more concentrated, and that makes the sauce.

Left: pasta cooking in my shallow fish pan.
Right: Tonging the pasta into the saucepan so as not to lose the cooking water.
​
Casio e pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper) 
Serves 2 as a small main course.
180 gm good quality spaghetti
90 gm finely grated Pecorino
1 tbsp whole peppercorns (more or less - should that be more or fewer?)

• Have ready a shallow pan to cook the pasta and a saucepan to finish off the dish.
• Roast the pepper in a dry pan until the aroma starts to rise. Remove, crush coarsely, and set aside. (Roast ready crushed pepper and you'll sneeze all evening.)
• Place the pasta in the shallow pan. Cover with lightly salted water - approx. 3 cups.
• Bring the water to a boil, then simmer, moving it around occasionally.
• When the pasta is 3/4 cooked, (you decide) have ready the saucepan sitting on a low heat. "Tong" the pasta into the saucepan along with 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Stir gently and watch as the water becomes opaque. Check that the pasta is cooked to al dente at this stage. (Ladle in more water if you think you need it.)
• Add the pecorino and pepper.  Stir a few minutes until silky smooth and the cheese has become part of the sauce.
• Serve immediately.

The cheese of course can be your choice, but try Pecorino first. I've found it to be more nuanced than Parmesan. (Pretentious, moi?)

After I'd finished writing and "researching" this, I discovered Alex - Just a  French Guy YouTube
Highly recommended. This guy is HOT.  Introduce him to a beginner and get some cooking happening. The French Guy
Then follow with his next episode where he improves on the method and worries about the "Italian backlash".

By the way, I did tell an Italian.  Rosa thought my first dish was too saucy and preferred the one below. (Perhaps she prefers the plate.)

Try it and tell me how you go.

​Comment or Like (👍🏼 or 👇) see the fine print below.