Cacio e Pepe with Homemade Pasta
Last Saturday night was quite the treat in the Lederman Kitchen.
Brian woke up on a mission for homemade pasta. He found a store at the mall that sold pasta rollers and headed there first thing. I don't know if it's because we had been making a lot of fresh pasta in San Francisco and it's now been 3 months since he has made it, or if it was our recent trip to Rome, that put him over the edge, but there was no stopping him.
If a dinner of homemade pasta wasn't enough already, I went with Brian to the store and couldn't resist a box of fresh Irish strawberries and decided that I should probably make a shortcake to accompany them. A wild Saturday night was looming in our future...In our defense, Brian has been traveling every week for work and a night in to recover was very much needed.
Brian had planned to make Cacio e Pepe, a dish we had on our Unexpected Second Honeymoon in Rome, and one of the best pasta dishes we have ever tasted. And as a starter, mushroom bruschetta. Drool.
Brian just threw the mushroom bruschetta together - how I wish I could do that. First, put a little olive oil in the pan and toast both sides of the bread.
Brian woke up on a mission for homemade pasta. He found a store at the mall that sold pasta rollers and headed there first thing. I don't know if it's because we had been making a lot of fresh pasta in San Francisco and it's now been 3 months since he has made it, or if it was our recent trip to Rome, that put him over the edge, but there was no stopping him.
If a dinner of homemade pasta wasn't enough already, I went with Brian to the store and couldn't resist a box of fresh Irish strawberries and decided that I should probably make a shortcake to accompany them. A wild Saturday night was looming in our future...In our defense, Brian has been traveling every week for work and a night in to recover was very much needed.
Brian had planned to make Cacio e Pepe, a dish we had on our Unexpected Second Honeymoon in Rome, and one of the best pasta dishes we have ever tasted. And as a starter, mushroom bruschetta. Drool.
~2 cups of flour
~3 eggs
dash of salt
In the Chef's (Brian's) Words:
Pasta from scratch is a lot of work, but pretty simple at the same time. Lay the flour out on a board and make a well in the middle. Then crack the eggs in the center and whisk with a fork. Then slowly incorporate the flour, a little at a time until a dough starts to form. Depending on the conditions, you might need to add a bit of water or flour. Once incorporated, knead for a few minutes until you get the right consistency, not too sticky, not too elastic, not to dry, not crumbly... Practice a few times and you'll get it.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before you roll it out. There's no magic with the pasta roller. Just crank through it with the machine. Here is a more detailed recipe on how to make fresh pasta from my first ever batch. It's just a little more labor intensive without the stand mixer.
In the Chef's (Brian's) Words:
Pasta from scratch is a lot of work, but pretty simple at the same time. Lay the flour out on a board and make a well in the middle. Then crack the eggs in the center and whisk with a fork. Then slowly incorporate the flour, a little at a time until a dough starts to form. Depending on the conditions, you might need to add a bit of water or flour. Once incorporated, knead for a few minutes until you get the right consistency, not too sticky, not too elastic, not to dry, not crumbly... Practice a few times and you'll get it.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before you roll it out. There's no magic with the pasta roller. Just crank through it with the machine. Here is a more detailed recipe on how to make fresh pasta from my first ever batch. It's just a little more labor intensive without the stand mixer.
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| The hand crank was surprisingly easy and quick to use |
Then, take sliced mushrooms, shallots, garlic and saute with olive oil, salt and pepper. Once it's all cooked, add about 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese and whatever herbs you have laying around. He just used dried Herbs de Provence. Then top your toasted bread.
The sauce for the pasta was surprisingly simple. It's literally 4 ingredients, cheese, butter, more cheese and pepper.
3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup finely graded parmesan
1/3 cup finely grated pecorino
First, bring a large pot of water to a boil for your pasta. Since we had fresh pasta, it only needs to cook for a few minutes. When ready, drain pasta, reserving 3/4 of the pasta water for the sauce.
While the water is warming up, melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes until melted.
Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and bring to simmer. Now, add your pasta and remaining butter. Reduce your heat to low and add the parmesan. Stir or toss with tongs until melted, then remove from heat. Last add the pecorino and toss until melted. You can add the remaining water if the pasta seems dry, we wished we had added a little more water.
Next up: Strawberry Shortcake
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| The mushroom bruschetta coming together. |
3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup finely graded parmesan
1/3 cup finely grated pecorino
First, bring a large pot of water to a boil for your pasta. Since we had fresh pasta, it only needs to cook for a few minutes. When ready, drain pasta, reserving 3/4 of the pasta water for the sauce.
While the water is warming up, melt 2 Tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes until melted.
Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and bring to simmer. Now, add your pasta and remaining butter. Reduce your heat to low and add the parmesan. Stir or toss with tongs until melted, then remove from heat. Last add the pecorino and toss until melted. You can add the remaining water if the pasta seems dry, we wished we had added a little more water.
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| 4 ingredients, 4 steps |
And there you have it. Delicious. But save some room for dessert...
Next up: Strawberry Shortcake
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