kale cacio e pepe
Black pepper lovers, unite! Cacio e pepe is a daaayum fine daaayum peppery pasta dish that is super easy to make IF and only IF you respect the method. You basically combine black pepper and grated cheese and melt this with hot pasta water. If the pasta water is, however, too hot, the cheese will coagulate and your sauce will be ruined. You should respect:
- the cheese should be at room temperature
- it should be grated finely in a pretty large bowl (in which you can whisk)
- the water should not be too hot
- you add the water gradually
Read all about what makes a good cache e pepe here. Adding roasted kale adds a real nice layer to the pepperiness and deepens the taste of this dish even further.
ingredients
- 250 g kale
- 1,5 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 200g linguine (or pici or tonarelli)
- 90g parmesan or pecorino at room temperature, finely grated
- a knob of butter (optional)
+ pepper, salt, olive oil
+ pestle & mortar
method
kale
Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Wash the kale, cut out the centre stalks and pat the leaves completely dry (I did this in a clean towel, use a salad spinner if you have one). Cut the kale into smaller (5 cm) slices. Place on a lined baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until crisp at the edges.
cacio e pepe
Toast the peppercorns in a hot, dry pan until they’re fragrant and start to ‘pop’. Transfer to a mortar and roughly crush.
Bring a wide shallow pan of water to the boil, add (a lot of) salt and add the pasta. The pasta should be covered but not by much. Five minutes into the cooking time, scoop out about 200 ml water and allow it to cool slightly. Drain the pasta, return it to the pan and toss with the roasted kale.
Put the finely grated cheese (at room temperature) and crushed pepper in a large bowl. Start making the sauce by beating in about a tablespoon or two of the slightly cooled pasta water until the cheese starts to stick. Keep gradually whisking in the pasta water until you get a sauce the consistency of a bechamel. Add this to the pasta and toss while adding some more of the water (you shouldn’t need it all) to make a sauce that coats each strand. I like to add some butter at this stage to make it taste even creamier.
Divide onto two plates and, if you haven’y added any butter, drizzle over some olive oil.
Kale cacio e pepe