cacio e pepe (pasta with pepper) and lemon

Cacio e Pepe with Lemon

Serves 2.  This was in Martha Stewart Living, and the tips about the kinds of cheese and making the sauce are perfect!

            coarse salt

            8 oz. thick spaghetti or bucatini

            4 Tbs. butter, cut into 4 pieces, softened

            3 oz. Grana Padano cheese, grated (1 c.)

            2 tsp. freshly cracked pepper

            ¾ oz. Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (1/4 c.)

            1 whole small lemon (preferably Meyer)

            olive oil for drizzling

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and cook until very al dente (undercooking the pasta is important), about 2 minutes less than called for in package instructions.  Reserve 1 c. pasta cooking water before draining.

Transfer drained pasta to a 12” nonstick skillet.  Add butter and ½ c. pasta cooking water.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  The heat helps the starch in the water meld with the fat from the butter, which prevents the Grana Padano from becoming stringy in the finished dish.    

Reduce heat to low, and mix in Grana Padano and cracked pepper.  Grana Padano is softer than Pecorino Romano; it will melt into the buttery water, creating a sauce as the pasta finishes cooking. 

Toss pasta with tongs to thoroughly coat it with sauce.  Keep everything at a gentle simmer just until cheese melts and sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. 

Remove from heat, then stir in Pecorino Romano (always add Pecorino off direct heat; it clumps when cooked).  Zest lemon over pasta.

If pasta looks dry, toss it with a bit more pasta water until it has a glossy coating.  Divide between 2 warm bowls.  Drizzle each with oil and lemon juice and garnish with more cracked pepper.  Serve immediately.