Cacio e Pepe from Bourbon Steak

Welcome to another delicious Chefs Share column! Each month, we showcase recipes from some of your favorite local restaurants. Don’t worry if your kitchen experience is limited; you don’t need to be a professional chef to pull off these recipes. Best of all, ingredients are readily available at your local supermarket or specialty store.

This month’s recipe comes from executive chef Gabriel Fenton of Bourbon Steak (BourbonSteakMIA.com). Located inside JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa at 19999 West Country Club Dr., the Aventura fine dining establishment has been wowing guests for years with its stellar steaks. But there’s more to the American steakhouse than its namesake, and this insider pasta recipe from Fenton is just one of many examples.

Here’s what he has to say about it:

“The cacio e pepe recipe is one of the most ancient dishes of Italian cuisine. The legend dates back the origin of this simple but delicious Italian spaghetti and cheese meal to the Roman Empire.

My version is very similar to the original, but at home I use Parmesan Reggiano instead of Pecorino Romano, and I add butter because I like butter a lot. I think it makes this dish a little more well-rounded with the spiciness of the black pepper.

It’s super simple to make, so much so that most people have all these ingredients already in their kitchens at home. In the restaurant during black truffle season, I sometimes give it out to our VIPs and I call it my ‘adult version of mac and cheese.’

I hope you love it as much as I do, and have fun making it with different pasta!”

Some parting advice: Before you get started, make sure to read the entire recipe to avoid any surprises and ensure a tasty result.

CACIO E PEPE

Serves: 2-4

INGREDIENTS

·      Kosher salt

·      2 tablespoons olive oil

·      8 ounces pasta (fresh or dry, any shape or size)

·      4 ounces pasta water

·      24 turns freshly cracked black pepper

·      2 ounces or 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks

·      4 ounces Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano, freshly and finely grated

PREPARATION

·      Start your pasta water first. Fill three-fourths of a 6-quart pot with water, lightly season with salt, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and bring to a boil.

·      Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions.

·      When pasta is about 75% cooked, carefully (carefully!) remove 4 ounces of pasta water from the pot and add it to a sauté pan over medium-high heat, along with the black pepper; bring to a soft boil.

·      Slowly add chunks of butter to pasta water-pepper mixture and stir to make an emulsion.

·      Drain pasta (it should be just slightly undercooked) and add it to the sauté pan; bring back to a boil.

·      Remove pasta from heat and add 3 ounces grated cheese, stirring until dish looks creamy.

·      Plate pasta, sprinkle grated cheese on top and enjoy.