Cheese and Black Pepper Pasta

Jubilee Farm Style

The dish comes to us from Rome, though we’ve done a bit of tweeking to make it Jubilee Farm style. This is a new method for our farm friends and requires following directions carefully so you can create an emulsion of hot pasta water and cheese.

Here we go: 

Prepare the Veggies

1. Wash and chiffonade tender greens ( brussels sprout tops, chard, tender kale)
2. Wash 1-2 leeks (see how Week 15 Video, 6:36). And cut into ½ moons.
3. Saute in 3 Tb butter until limp, turn up the heat and add all the greens.
4. Toss with tongs until just cooked.  (1-3 min)
5. Set aside to fold into the pasta right before serving.

Prepare the Pasta

1. Bring enough water to rolling boil to just cover 1 lb of pasta.  Be sparing in the amount of water so you can concentrate the starches.  That’s what will eventually hold the sauce together.
2. Add 1 Tb sea salt once it reaches a rolling boil
3. Cook the pasta until aldente.  (It will cook another minute or two later when when it comes time to assemble the pasta with sauce.)
4. SAVE THE PASTA WATER WHEN YOU DRAIN IT!
5. You’ll eventually need at least 1 cup of this water and maybe more.  I like to use metal bowls because they allow things to cool faster than pottery.
6. Set aside for several minutes.
7. The pasta will cool just a bit in the colander and that’s what you want.

The Sauce

1. Warm a large heavy pot before adding the peppercorns.
2. Add 1 Tb whole black pepper corns and dry toast  on medium heat for about 30 sec.
3. Once the pepper corns give off some aroma remove immediately and crush with the side of a wide blade knife.
4. Once crushed, mince into smaller pieces and set aside.

In an unheated large bowl place the finely grated, room temperature cheese.

• • 1 cup Parmesan
  • 1 cup Pecorino Romano

To the cheese, slowly add

• 1 cup of the slightly cooled, salted pasta water while whisking like you intend to get a workout.  Don’t quit, it will begin to come together.  If it feels too thick add some more slightly cooled pasta water and continue to whisk the sauce.

NOTE:  IT'S IMPORTANT TO LET THE PASTA WATER COOL A BIT BEFORE MIXING WITH THE CHEESE.  IT SHOULD STILL BE HOT BUT TOUCHABLE.  IF IT'S TOO HOT, YOU WILL WRECK YOUR SAUCE AND THE CHEESE WILL SEPARATE.

• Add the crushed pepper corns and stir throughout.
• Fold in slightly cooled pasta,
• Put everything back in the slightly cooled heavy pot and gently warm on low temperature while tossing together.
• Add more pasta water if you need to loosen the sauce at bit.
• Fold in the cooked greens and leeks and serve immediately.
• Plate up and enjoy!

You know our love of citrus.  If this was a special dinner I might include a wedge of lemon to squeeze over the top at the table.

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