capellini with cheese and black pepper

People, I had great plans for last week — paint my bedroom, make a newer, better version of rice crispy bars (if that’s even possible), scrub the kitchen floor, do laundry (ha! I crack myself up sometimes) — and did I do a single one? No. I found myself victim to the thermostat (and the central heat’s) cruel joke of keeping the house at a cool and balmy frighteningly freezing 55-degrees (yes, as in 23-degrees warmer than the freezing point, as in 43.4 degrees colder than a normal body temperature, as in so cold my fingers are now permanent icicles that break when forced around a hot mug of cocoa that is guaranteed to warm me up, but cannot for the life of me hold it up to my mouth because of my now-nub fingers…) Sigh, it’s been rough, not that I am complaining — no one likes complainers, I’m just simply telling you facts here, yeah, just facts. I definitely don’t want sympathy, condolences or heart-felt wishes from plastic surgeons to repair my broken, damaged fingers. I’m not that selfish.

And since I am not a mumbling, grumbling, freezing complainer I will tell you that my week instantly brightened when I received Gweneth Paltrow’s GOOP newsletter which quickly made my mouth water as she listed five Mario Batali recipes full of cheese and cheese and cheese and goodness. She talked about ipad and iphone apps from Mario, and if I were rich enough (read: did not spend all my money on dishes, shoes and hair products) to own such amazing devices I perhaps would have been more interested in what she was saying before scrolling down and almost trying to lick my screen to get that goodness in me (cold people don’t think properly sometimes. Like my husband, you should ignore me when I get a bit crazed and only take notice of me if I start to foam at the mouth, that obviously would be bad).

Four long, cold days after reading about pasta, butter, cheese and pepper I have made the very recipe that made me snap out of my bitterly cold doldrums and have completely carbed myself out for a month. Realizing only as I made this that I have in fact been making this weekly during these cold winter months without realizing it. Except I was a bit more streamlined and got my results twice as fast as cold people have no patience. Regardless of which method you use, you are sure to have creamy risotto-ish pasta filled with layers of cheese and cheese and cheese and pepper and cheese. Cheese is a good thing.

One Year Ago: Cheesecake Swirled Brownies and Chocolate Ice Cream

Capellini Cacio e Pepe
Adapted from GOOP.com via Mario Batali

Note: This can be made with any long pasta, like spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine or angel hair. I happen to prefer thin noodles over thick and choose capellini, which is barely thicker than angel hair.

Serves 4

1/2 pound dried capellini
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano, plus extra for serving
Kosher salt

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 2 tablespoons salt. Drop in pasta.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and butter over low heat until just melted. Turn off the heat.

When pasta is about one minute short of package directions for al dente, turn the heat back on under the saute pan. Take 2 ladles of pasta cooking water and add to the oil and butter in the saute pan and bring it to a boil. Add a small handful of the cheeses and allow to melt into the butter.

Drain the noodles, reserving a few cups of the cooking liquid. Drop the noodles into the saute pan and toss with black pepper, using tongs. Add in 2 more ladles of pasta water.

Add rest of the cheeses, turn off the heat, allow them to melt into the top of the pasta, then toss well. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Keep tossing, adding another ladleful of pasta cooking water, until pasta is well coated and a sauce has formed. Season with salt.

Serve with additional grated parmigiano and freshly ground black pepper.

Meg’s Version (which is also a one-pot version, unlike Mario’s):

Serves 2 – 4

1/2 pound pasta (long pasta is traditional though I have been know to make this with whatever I have on hand, macaroni, cavatappi, shells, etc.)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 – 3/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (or yes, more if desired), plus extra for serving
Kosher salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt and pasta, cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving pasta water. Place pasta back in pot and add butter, stirring until melted. Add cheese and stir until creamy and combined. If pasta gets super thick and clumpy, add a ladle full of pasta water until thick and creamy — you don’t want it super watery so do one ladle full at a time. Salt to taste, and sprinkle with extra cheese and enjoy cleaning one pot.