PSYCHODELIC KITCHEN - TONNARELLI CACIO E PEPE (EPISODE 4)
Psychodelic Kitchen is an experimental cooking show created by Piero Passcantando, Arturo Passacantando and Carla Ciffoni. Whisking together elements of the classic cooking show format, retro futuristic internet aesthetics, performance art, psychedelia and more, Psychodelic Kitchen is a groovy yet instructive voyage in the depths of Piero’s delirious tasty cuisine.
TONNARELLI CACIO E PEPE
Ingredients for 4 people
Pasta
4 eggs
400g semolina flour, plus some extra to work the dough
Sauce:
About 200g semi-aged Pecorino
About 5g black pepper
Begin by mixing eggs and flour in a bowl until they begin to incorporate. Transfer to a floured flat surface. Knead until smooth. It should be a fairly dry dough (if too dry, add a splash of water, or if too wet add a bit of flour and keep on kneading). Transfer back into the bowl and cover with cellophane or wet cloth. Set aside for a minimum 30 min.
Divide dough into workable balls (about 150g each). Transfer a dough ball onto a floured work surface. Initially flatten with your hands into a disk shape and then roll it out with a rolling pin until 1mm thick. Try to keep the shape rectangular-ish and use flour if it begins to stick to the pin or working surface. Roll it like a carpet, and slice it in about 1-2mm slices. Unroll the slices immediately, flour well to prevent them from sticking to each other and lay on a tray. Repeat operation for all the dough balls.
Put water to boil for the pasta. Grate the cheese in a bowl and grind pepper in a separate container. When the water is quite hot, pour enough water to cover the bottom of a pan and add black pepper, letting it infuse. Also, pour a little hot water in the bowl with the cheese and begin mixing. Add a bit more water as needed and mix until you obtain a cream paste.
Lightly salt the boiling water, keep in mind that later the cheese may impart a lot of saltiness. Cook the noodles to an al dente consistency. Save a little bit of the cooking water from the pasta. Drain noodles. Add noodles to the pan that had the pepper infusing, add the cheese sauce and begin mixing the noodles. If it gets too dry, add a bit more cooking water. Taste and adjust salt, pepper or cheese to your taste. And cacio e pepe is ready to be served!