The Madonna of Pasta

True stars are often known by his or her first name only.

Madonna.

Oprah.

Beyonce.

Bono.

Move over Madge, Queen of Pop and Oprah, Queen of Talk because there’s a new Queen in town: Pecorino, Queen of Pasta.

Commonly called Cacio e Pepe, I shortened the dish to simply: Pecorino. There is a reason Madonna does not go by her real name Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. If you are a true star, one word says it all!

I had my first Pecorino experience while dining at a Mario Batali restaurant. I ordered a very simple dish on the menu listed as Cacio e Pepe. It was described as pasta with Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper with a dash of olive oil and butter. As my husband will attest since he was there to witness my first meeting with the dish I call Pecorino, it was love at first bite. My eyes may or may not have rolled back in my head with the first bite as it was THAT good.

After my dinner of Pecorino, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Probably much like if you met Oprah or Madonna, it would be hard to stop recounting the experience of the meeting. A true star makes a lasting impression, right? As soon as we were wheels down in DC from Vegas, I immediately set out to re-create this amazing pasta dish and discovered it was surprisingly easy. In fact, I actually liked my version better than what I ate at the restaurant.

As my family of three is in the midst of packing for a move to a new house later this week, I prepared Pecorino over the weekend as it was quick, easy and filling and is great the next day.  To begin, you only need three ingredients: Pecorino Romano cheese (this is a sheep’s milk cheese), black pepper (preferably from a pepper grinder) and a medium thickness pasta. I prefer Bucatini for this recipe but a standard spaghetti will work fine.

If you can boil water, you can make Pecorino. Boil the water for your pasta and while the pasta boils, grate your Pecorino Romano cheese. I use the cheese quite liberally in this dish so you can figure on a little less than ½ pound of grated cheese for one pound pasta. When I am in a hurry, I often buy the Pecorino Romano already grated which is a nice convenience when making this dish.

Once the pasta is cooked (I prefer slightly al dente), remove and drain and reserve a bit of the water in which you cooked the pasta. Using tongs, put a quarter of the pasta in your serving dish. Sprinkle it with the cheese and plenty of black pepper and toss using the tongs.

You will see that the pecorino and pepper cling nicely to the noodles. Be as generous as you want with the cheese! Repeat until you’ve used all the pasta and each strand has a good coating of the cheese and black pepper. I don’t think this dish even needs salt because the Pecorino Romano has a salty flavor. If the pasta feels a bit dry, feel free to add some of the reserved pasta water.

Here is a picture of the finished product of cheesy, peppery goodness:

The beauty of Pecorino is that it is perfect to serve as a quick dinner or as a main dish for a dinner party.  These days, those are star quality characteristics for me!   

Pecorino (serves 4 as a main course)

Ingredients
1 lb Bucatini pasta (feel free to use spaghetti or another medium thickness noodle)
1/2 lb grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Ground black pepper (from a pepper mill)

Details
*Boil water and cook pasta until al dente
*Drain pasta and reserve some of the pasta water
*In a large serving bowl, deposit 1/4 of the pasta in the bowl with tongs.  Sprinkle liberally with the cheese and black pepper and toss until noodles are coated.  Repeat until all pasta is used and coated with pecorino and black pepper.