I have to say, I'm absolutely hooked onto this dish as if the main ingredient was crack. It's a simple, every day type of dish that is fairly light but also very pleasing. I would consider this something very cheap to make but with that being said, get GOOD ingredients. It makes all the difference in the world. The simplicity of the dish means you can taste every technique and ingredient, you can't hide under a heavy sauce.
I should preface everything with this. I don't measure when I cook. So I'll try to give you my best estimates.
You'll need: (serves 2)
- Long pasta such as spaghetti or pappardelle. (400g-500g or a single bag of it)
- 1/2 cup of grated Gran Padano cheese
- 1/2 cup of grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- knob of butter (maybe a tablespoon)
- fresh cracked black pepper (1-2 Tbsp)
- A pot of boiling salty water
That's it. How can this be enough to make something drool worthy? The love and care you'll be putting into it. So here's what you're gonna do. Put a big pot of water on the stove. Salt it. A lot. As you've heard many times before I'm sure, make it taste like the sea. A punch of salt, whatever you use, this is the default pasta boiling technique. When the water is going, put in your pasta. Here, be picky about what you get. Good pasta should have tiny rough white edges to it. It should not be shiny yellow. The reason is the rough edges are what any sauce will grab onto. Think of it as little hooks. If the pasta is shiny\waxy looking, when you put any sauce on top you'll be left with a pool of water at the bottom of your plate. I would really recommend you look for Rustica D'Abbruzzo, it's a brown paper bag, costs about $4-$5 a bag. If you can't find that or would like to keep it cheaper, you can get Giovanni Panzani (yellow bag), DeCecco (blue box) or Delverde (green bag). If you're not sure if what you have in your pantry is good, I say try one of these. Rustica is by far my favourite dried pasta, the others are every day brands. Then make the recipe again another time with your pasta. is it as good? Is there enough starch that's released to make a silky sauce? Are the noodles holding their shape or do they break apart? You'll know what you like. It's the beauty of simple dishes like this, quality stands out. So while you've read this, it's probably time to give that pasta one good stir. Don't stir the pasta right away it's useless. Let it soak up a bit and start to move on it's own. When it does, stir it and it'll move freely in the pot.
Once that's going, let's get a sauce pan out. I don't recommend to use a non-stick because of something we're about to do. In fact, I don't recommend non-stick teflon pans for anything except maybe eggs. They warp too easily and have to be babied. You can't sear with them, and you can't use them in the oven. A good ol pan with a metal handle and no plastic, that's all you really need. Get it on medium heat. While that's starting to heat up get your black pepper. This is today's exercise. Grind some pepper. Use your fancy pepper mill, a mortar, or beat them with a rolling pin in a bag. Ideally you want this to be freshly cracked because this will release the oil in it.
How's that pasta doing? We'll be cooking it a bit in the pan so we don't want to cook them all the way through. Take one out and bite it. What we want is to have it feel a bit tough but not crunchy. You should also have a good amount of white foam all over the surface. That's the starch from the pasta. We want that! Take a coffee mug and fill it up in that water, try to get some of that foam. This is what gives restaurant sauces that beautiful sheen to it. Now drain the pasta in the sink.
The pan should be nice and hot, so at this point throw the pepper in the pan. In about 5 seconds you'll smell that amazing aroma. Great isn't it? Yeah! We wan to toast the pepper a little bit just to further enhance the smells and flavours. maybe 30 seconds tops. Now we start the sauce. Take half of the mug of water and pour it in the pan and be careful. This will stop the toasting of the pepper. Glad you're not using your non-stick now aren't you? Doing this would warp that pan but not your trusty thick bottom metal pan, oh no it wouldn't! You can reduce the heat a bit now, and throw in the butter. Let it melt completely. Next, take it off the heat and throw in the cheese. Swish it all around, scrape anything on the side walls back into the sauce. Put in the pasta, and then if you're low on liquid in the pan put the rest of the water from the mug. Now you get to be all big shot and flip it around! Be confident, grab the handle with both hands and flick it away and up and then catch it. Do it a few times to coat everything. Or if you're afraid tonight's meal will be enjoyed by your dog use a pair of thongs and toss it in the pan. Put the pan back on the heat and cook it for another minute or two.
Plate it, enjoy it. Here are some suggestions for slight modifications.
- Add some frozen peas when you're putting in the cheese, this adds wonderful colour and pop.
- Try a bit of sauge in the butter sauce. It it out before serving.
- Lemon zest at the very end, and while it's off the heat. This is nice in the summer
- Instead of using starch water to stop the toasting process, try white wine or a fine ale
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