Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Sugar Snap Peas
This is a gem from the Six Season’s Cookbook. Snap peas are the best just eaten raw but this tasty recipe reminds me that they can be more diverse than I give them credit for. This traditionally uses guanciale (cured pork jowl) but I can’t find that so I use panchetta.
Ingredients:
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces guanciale or pancetta, diced or chopped
extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz spaghetti, fettuccine or tagliatelle
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off, peas very thinly sliced on a sharp angle, so they’re almost shredded
6 tablespoons Cacio e Pepe butter (see recipe below)
Percornio Romano cheese for grating
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt so it tastes like the sea.
Put the guanciale and 2 tsps of olive oil into a skillet or dutch oven that’s large enough to also hold the pasta. Cook until it’s lightly crisped and most of the fat has been rendered out, 9-12 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat and spoon off the fat except for about 1 tablespoon.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cooking accordingly to the package. When the pasta is almost ready, and the snap peas to the pasta pot.
Put the skillet back over the medium heat to reheat the guanciale gently. With a ladle or measuring cup, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta and snap peas and add them to the skillet along with the cacio e pepe butter. Toss well to incorporate , adding a few drops of the pasta water in order to make a cloaking, creamy sauce. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper (make sure you taste as it may be salty enough!). Transfer to serving bowls and top with grated percorino. Serve right away.
Cacio e Pepe Recipe - Makes 1 1/2 cups
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
3/4 cup finely grated Percornino romano cheese
3/4 cup finely grated parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
Put the peppercorns in a small skillet and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan and stirring constantly to toast the pepper evenly, just until you begin to smell a black pepper perfume, 2-3 minutes. Pour in a separate container and let cool.
Crack and grind the pepper, it’s nice to have uneven consistency from fine to coarse.
Fold the pepper and both cheese into the butter with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and store in a container. Chill the butter for at least 1 hour to firm up and to let the flavors marry.
Serve with this pasta dish or with potatoes, filet mignon, omelets or fish!