Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper Pasta)

Note: This is a sponsored post, powered by BrandBacker. I was sent samples of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to make this post. Opinions are mine alone. 

Some ingredients are so wonderful, that you don’t need much else to make a beautiful dish. Parmigiano Reggiano is most certainly one of those ingredients.

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is made in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, and Mantua, Italy. Made by a collective of farmers and producers, Parmigiano Reggiano has just three ingredients: milk, salt, and rennet. with over eight centuries of cheese making experience, every wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is carefully tended to by workers who wipe, brush, and turn them every ten days. The outsides of the wheels dry over time to form a natural and edible rind. The wheels are typically aged for 18 to 36 months, with 24 months being the most common. So how do you know you have real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese? Look for the pin-dots on the rind, which are imprinted on every wheel.

This process results in a hard, dry cheese with a pale gold rind and a straw colored interior with a wonderful rich and sharp flavor. Pre-grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese doesn’t do the freshly grated stuff justice. And the best way to highlight the flavor of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano is in this super simple recipe for Cacio e Pepe, or translated to Cheese and Pepper.

Traditional Cacio e Pepe is made with just 4 ingredients, but my Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and Pepper Pasta) has 7 ingredients – pasta, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, pepper, salt, garlic, butter, and olive oil. The result is a simple but decadent pasta dish with the most luxurious, silky cheese sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 oz) box linguine
• salt, for the pasta water
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
• 1 large garlic clove, very thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving

To make, prepare all of your ingredients. Grind your pepper, thinly slice your garlic clove, and grate your Parmigiano Reggiano.

Fill a large pot with water, using less than you typically would (I filled mine with a gallon of water). Bring to a rolling boil, then heavily salt the water.

Add the linguine, stirring to combine. Cook the linguine to 1 minute less than the box’s directions for al dente.

Remove from heat and drain, reserving about 1 1/2 cups of the water.

In a separate large pot, heat the unsalted butter and olive oil over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the ground black pepper and sliced garlic, cooking for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid.

Follow by slowly adding in the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, whisking as you add it, trying not to let the Parmigiano Reggiano clump. The sauce will begin to thicken.

Once all of the Parmigiano Reggiano is added, begin to add the cooked linguine, tossing to combine until fully coated in the sauce.

If the sauce seems too thick, use some of the remaining reserved cooking water until it reaches your desired consistency.

Top with more freshly ground black pepper and Parmigiano Reggiano before serving.

The heat and starchiness of the pasta water transforms the Parmigiano Reggiano into a silky sauce – a perfectly creamy, sharp, and peppery sauce.

To store what’s left of your Parmigiano Reggiano, you can either refrigerate or freeze the cheese. To refrigerate, wrap the cheese tightly in plastic wrap and add to a zip top bag. Similarly, you can freeze, just make sure your zip top bag is a heavy duty freezer bag. Looking for more recipes that use Parmigiano Reggiano? Check out some here!

Tip: don’t throw out the rinds of your cheese! Freeze them and use them when making soups and sauces (I add mine to my tomato sauce!)