Lemon Cacio E Pepe
I love noodles, so let's make a pasta that is as SAUCY, CREAMY, and ZESTY as my BUSSY. Let's make Lemon Cacio E Pepe
Ingredients
- 8 oz Spaghetti
- ½ Stick Butter (4 Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 oz Parmesan (Grate more for topping)
- 2 tsp 1 tbsp Black Pepper ((Coarsely ground, save some for garnish))
- ½ Tsp Lemon Zest (About Half a Lemon, Optional)
- 1- 1½ C Pasta Water (Depends on how much water is needed)
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
- In boiled UNSALTED water, boil your pasta until al dente or desired consistency, this may take 8 to 10 minutes. Continue on to the next steps while pasta is boiling. Reserve about 1C to 1½ C of Pasta Water and let the Pasta Water sit to cool down after the pasta is done cooking.
- In a high heat pan/pot, melt the Butter until hot and little wisps of smoke arise, add in the Black Pepper to toast, and immediately turn off the heat. Let the Black Pepper temper for at least 5 minutes. This step is called tempering the spices and will extract the flavor of the Black Pepper into the Butter.
- Add in the pasta, half of the Parmesan, and half of the Pasta Water into the vessel with the black pepper oil on low heat. Stir vigorously to ensure that the Parmesan melts evenly and completely.
- Add the rest of the Parmesan, Lemon Zest, and Salt if needed. Add more Pasta Water if needed to thin out the sauce and make it saucier.
Notes
Normally you would try to get the pasta water as SALTY as the SEA or as ME, but I personally avoided doing such a technique as the parmesan that was gonna be added is already quite salty by itself. If you do salt your pasta water like a proper professional, just be cautious when adding more pasta water
Turn off the heat of the pan after you add in the Black Peppercorn to the Butter. If you keep the heat on, you have a higher chance of burning your Oil infusion, which could cause it to be quite bitter.
The Butter and Pepper Mixture will fizzle and foam when added together initially, but that should subside within a few minutes.
You are done tempering the spices when the oil becomes super aromatic. If you are unsure, its better to under temper than over temper. To check if the mixture is done tempering, the Peppercorns should be golden, as the oil in general.
Letting the pasta water cool down a little bit before adding it into the Pasta and Parmesan will ensure that the cheese melts evenly and will prevent clumping of cheese.
Adding the Parmesan in two parts helps prevent clumping of the cheese.
If the parmesan cheese does clump together, keep on mixing and turn off the heat. This will ensure that the cheese is melting evenly
Be careful about adding too much Pasta Water as that can make the sauce more runny as well as thick in some cases. If you did add too. much Pasta Water, just keep the pot on low heat and stir delicately.