Saige's Journal: Food! - Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper

I love good food, and I love cooking it. But I've realized that good food doesn't always require a lot of cooking. Sometimes the simple stuff is delicious - and the simple, good stuff may not require much/any more effort than cheap crap. Here's one great example, and what will be the first of many recipes I will post here for those interested in new dishes to make.

If you like pasta, this is wonderful. Pecorino Romano cheese has much more bite than regular Romano, and that bite balances off really well with freshly ground black pepper. This is what I think of when I think of comfort food.

Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper

You need:

1/2 lb dried spaghetti
3/4 to 1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (only extra virgin!)
1-2 Tbsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

There's not much to making this - cook the spaghetti (in slightly salted water with no added oil), drain briefly in a collander (not too briefly, the pasta should still be quite damp), and return to the pot. Add the olive oil, stir to coat. Sprinkle the pepper in while stirring, to try and distribute evenly. Then add the pecorino while stirring, letting it melt into the pasta - this is why you want to return it to the hot pot, lest the cheese not melt.

Serve and enjoy. Serves two with garlic bread and salad and such. If you try and make it with a full pound of pasta, be prepared - the cheese is a bit harder to stir in.

Oh, and pre-ground pepper is a poor substitute, as it has lost much of it's flavor and strength by the time you use it, and is usually too finely ground.

Some variations

[ces]

I do something like this except I often substitute butter for all or part of the olive oil and parmasan reggiano for all or part of the romano. It's also good with myzithra or most other hard cheeses.

Here are a couple of dishes I did the other day:

1-2 lb. fresh green beans
butter to taste
minced fresh garlic to taste (either mince fine with a knife or use a garlic press)
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Once the water is boiling add the green beans, cook 2

So specific about all ingredients BUT Spaghetti

[Cy Guy]

Really, if you're going to get $8/lb cheese $5/pint Olive Oil, and fresh ground pepper, the least you can do is get decent pasta to put it over. The obvious best choice is to buy pasta flour and fresh eggs and make your own (either with a pasta machine or by rolling it out with a rolling pin then cutting it). 2nd choice is refrigerated fresh pasta, 3rd choice would be frozen cheese ravioli, and 4th choice would be dried "fresh" linguinni. If none of these is available (and I have trouble believing you co

Re:So specific about all ingredients BUT Spaghetti

[Saige]

With the choices you list, I still think that dried semolina spaghetti is by far the best for the pecorino cheese "sauce". Egg pasta isn't just a drop-in replacement for semolina pasta, there are different flavors, different bites to them. You want semolina pasta for the pecorino cheese, and while I don't know how freshly made semolina spaghetti works, fresh egg pasta won't go well, either flavor wise, or strength wise. Similarly, the shape of spaghetti is preferable to linguini in this case - I know, I

Where's the garlic?

[FortKnox]

Sounds almost like an aglioli (pronounced al-lee-ol-lee). But an aglioli is usually oil and garlic with something else put on pasta. IE, my aglioli with anchovies [slashdot.org] dish (which is another example of minimal requirements, minimal ingredients, but great dish).

Re:Where's the garlic?

[Saige]

I've done it with garlic, but I don't really think it adds to the dish. I know, seems rather insane to think garlic can't help, but it's true...

On the other hand, when I want garlic, I tend to do a spaghetti with balsamic vinegar and parmesan, as it uses garlic slightly browned in olive oil in it. With the tang of the balsamic vinegar, it's wonderful.