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 scorching, 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 couple of 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 direction of the top. Add butter and stir to mix, then scrape every thing onto a bowl and put aside.

Prepare dinner the pasta: Deliver a pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook dinner linguine till about 30 seconds wanting 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 wish to add it to piping scorching 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 high-quality items as it may possibly get. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons chilly water, separately, and absolutely mixing every addition earlier than including the following. 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 in case 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 might be too thick for the job, however do your greatest 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. Maintain 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 every thing 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 prematurely (an hour or a day, simply reheat it), and the cheese-pepper sauce (as much as every week within the fridge), and have every thing able to go when the pasta is piping scorching.