So in lieu of recent events(namely, the worldwide pandemic occurring right now), I’ve been doing a lot of cooking. And since I bought a pasta maker a while back, I decided to try my attempt at making pasta. Namely, cacio e pepe. In case your life hasn’t been graced with the presence of this amazing dish, cacio e pepe is basically the grown up version of pasta with butter and cheese. It’s basically crazily cheesy, creamy, pasta that’s been doused with lots of black pepper for a little kick. And not only is extremely tasty, but it’s also super easy to make. Mine is sightly unconventional, since I added mushrooms, mostly because I just really like mushrooms and had them on hand. But I think they actually work in the dish very well.

First, you make a well using either semolina or all-purpose flour, and crack in an egg, and smidge of olive oil.

Next, whisk the egg and olive oil together until fully combined. Now is the perfect time to break out your tiny whisk. A fork will do just fine, but it’s just not as fun.

Once it’s come together into a dough, start kneading. Like a lot. Just put on a podcast, music, tv show, etc, and get really into it. It takes about 10 minutes-ish, or until the dough becomes elastic and kind of stretchy.

Once that’s done, shape the dough into a ball and let it rest in a bowl to the side for at least ten minutes, but longer is okay too.

Meanwhile, prepare the mushrooms. Basically, just throw them in a pan and sauté them until they’re cooked through. You might need to add a bit of water at some point.

And while the mushrooms are cooking, grate the cheese. For the amount of pasta I made, I used about one cup of grated pecorino romano, which is the cheese traditionally used for cacio e pepe. Also while you’re grating your cheese, it’s very important to eat some(a lot). You know, for quality check. Or something.

Your mushrooms are done, your cheese is grated. It’s time. Cut the ball of dough in half and flatten it a little bit before running it through your pasta machine.

And once your pasta is thin enough, I like to fold it up and cut it into noodles. Also I don’t know how to use the noodle setting on my pasta machine.

Ok now that the pasta’s all ready, drop it into a pot of boiling hot water. Be warned, fresh pasta cooks VERY quickly, so be ready to fish it out in a minute or two, and make sure to SAVE the pasta water. You’ll need it to thicken the sauce.

Once the pasta’s done, it’s time to get saucy. I used a combination of butter and olive oil, which actually turned out surprisingly well. Then I added in the pasta water, let it mingle with the oil for a bit, then added in the cheese and pepper, followed soon by the noodles and mushrooms. And after a bit of a toss, magic! Dinner is served.

Now the only thing left to do is plate and enjoy your glorious creation. Also if you’re me, you immediately proudly display your creation on your instagram.

mushroom cacio e pepe

serves: two

time: 45 minutes

ingredients:

1 cup grated pecorino romano
1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup semolina flour, plus more for dusting the board
4 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced
lots of freshly ground black pepper(just eyeball it, it’s really up to you)
salt

steps:

Make a mound of semolina flour, and make a well in the center of your mound. Add into the center the egg, one tablespoon of olive oil, and about 1 tsp. salt.
Mix the egg, salt, and olive oil together, and slowly blend flour into mixture until dough is formed.
Knead dough for approximately 10 minutes, or until dough is elastic.
Form dough into a ball, and let dough rest in a covered bowl for at least ten minutes
Place mushrooms in sauté pan with one tablespoon of olive oil, as well as more salt and pepper to taste. Sauté mushrooms until fully cooked, stirring occasionally.
Set pot of salted water on the stove to boil
Cut ball of dough in half, and roll out slightly before running through pasta machine. (You could also just roll out your dough manually)
Once dough has reached your desired thickness, fold it up and cut into wide, fettucine-esque noodles.
Repeat steps 6-7 with other half of dough.
Place noodles into boiling water until cooked al-dente, approximately 1-2 minutes.(These noodles will cook VERY quickly so be careful)
Remove noodles from water, and reserve the starchy pasta water.
Place the butter and remaining tablespoon of olive oil into a sauté pan.
Once butter is melted, add in a little less than one cup of the starchy pasta water, and stir to combine as much as possible.
Take the pan off the heat and add in the cheese and your desired amount of black pepper, stirring quickly to combine to form the sauce.
Add in the pasta and mushrooms, tossing to coat.
Serve the pasta potentially with some more grated cheese and enjoy!