corn cacio e pepe – smitten kitchen

Put together the corn: Warmth a big skillet (or the empty pot you’ll use to cook dinner your pasta) on excessive warmth for one minute. As soon as sizzling, add the olive oil, and let the oil warmth for one minute. Add the corn kernels, and season them with salt and freshly floor black pepper, and stir them a few times, simply so that they’re evenly coated within the oil and depart them be. Don’t stir once more for 3 to 4 minutes, or till toasty brown beneath. Step again as they could crackle and pop, particularly in the direction of the tip. Add butter and stir to mix, then scrape all the things onto a bowl and put aside.

Cook dinner the pasta: Deliver a pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook dinner linguine till about 30 seconds in need of excellent. [We’re not going for a full al dente here because the pasta dish is finished off the heat, thus will not continue cooking.] Earlier than you drain the pasta, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and put aside.

In the meantime, make the sauce: Get your sauce prepared earlier than the pasta has completed cooking, as we need to add it to piping sizzling noodles. In a meals processor or high-speed blender, mix pecorino and roughly 2 teaspoons of freshly floor black pepper till the cheese is as fantastic items as it might get. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons chilly water, one after the other, and absolutely mixing every addition earlier than including the subsequent. You’re seeking to take the cheese from a powdery to a creamy consistency, like frosting for a cake; mix the combination so long as is required (about 1 minute) to get it there. Style the combination: it needs to be very salty and peppery; add extra pepper if wanted (aged pecorino is normally very salty, however when you’re utilizing one thing else, add salt right here too)

Assemble and eat: As quickly as your pasta is drained, add it again to the empty pot together with the black pepper-pecorino sauce. The sauce will probably be too thick for the job, however do your finest to distribute it evenly over the noodles. Then, start including the reserved pasta water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, tossing the pasta the entire time. It will loosen the cheese combination into a pleasant saucy consistency. Hold including water, tossing the entire time, however not a lot that the sauce “washes” off the noodles. Add reserved corn and toss to combine, then switch all the things to a serving bowl. End with extra cheese and black pepper and eat immediately.

Do forward: This isn’t my favourite dish to reheat, however you may make the corn upfront (an hour or a day, simply reheat it), and the cheese-pepper sauce (as much as per week within the fridge), and have all the things able to go when the pasta is piping sizzling.