Peppery Cheesy Pasta

A throw back to my summer in Italy eating pici cacio e pepe, this is a lovely quick one pot wonder recipe using basic store cupboard ingredients.

Ingredients for one portion:

• 100g of any pasta – I used Waitrose gluten free stelline pasta
• 10g of extra virgin olive oil – yes grams, it’s just less washing up 
• 20g of Parmesan or strong cheese finely grated
• 1/2 a teaspoon of ground pepper
• 10g of salted butter  and a sprinkling of chopped parsley (optional)

Method: 

• Boil the pasta for the time stated on the packet.
• A couple of minutes before the pasta will be cooked, pour the olive oil into the serving bowl and add about 40g of the pasta water. Stir in the cheese with a fork then add in the pasta once cooked and drained. Stir the mixture until the sauce is all combined then add the pepper to taste.
• To give a slightly flavour, add some butter. Once you are happy with the flavour, sprinkle the dish with parsley and eat.

This dish is fairly similar to carbonara but it is a much quicker alternative with very minimal washing up – a perfect student dish. Great after a long day at uni for a quick source of energy before going to events in the evening.

Also because it doesn’t have an egg in, it can also be reheated or frozen for another day.

Hattie xx