It has been brutally hot here for the past week but the summer produce is abundant and I wanted to take advantage of that. I had found a recipe for this corn cacio e pepe a while ago and wanted to try it with some good fresh sweet corn. The result was this creamy version of cacio e pepe that came out pretty good although I did have an issue with my cheese clumping. More on that later.
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So, this recipe is simple in that it uses just a few ingredients and comes together quickly. Cooking the pasta is probably the longest step. It differs from traditional cacio e pepe in how the cheese and pepper are combined with some water to make a paste before adding it to the drained pasta and corn. I think this may be where I either added too much water to the mixture or it was too finely grated. Why would I worry it was too finely grated? Good question! It is because I recently was watching Sohla el-Wayly in this video where she pointed out not to use a microplane to grate the cheese and instead use the grater on the side of a box grater to get a more pebbly texture. Well, I used the fine grating side of my super sharp new box grater and it was more like what you get from a microplane;(
Regardless, the final dish tasted great and next time I will adjust accordingly and see if I can get it right;)
Cacio e pepe with fresh corn
recipe by Deb Perelman at epicurious
ingredients:
- 16 oz. gemelli, orecchiette, or other medium pasta (I used cellentani)
- Kosher salt
- 3 cups corn kernels (from 3 large ears)
- 8 oz. aged Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, finely grated (about 2 cups), plus more for serving
- 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
directions:
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente; add corn about 30 seconds before pasta is done cooking. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta and corn to the pot.
- While pasta is cooking, toss 8 oz. cheese and 2 tsp. pepper in a medium bowl to combine. Add 1/3 cup cold water and use a fork to mash mixture into a thick paste (try to get it as smooth as possible). Still mashing, add more water a tablespoonful at a time until paste is about the consistency of cream cheese.
- Add cheese mixture to pot with pasta and corn. Using a rubber spatula, toss pasta until coated (the cheese mixture will be too thick to form a sauce at this point). Tossing constantly, add reserved pasta cooking liquid a splash at a time until a glossy sauce forms (it should still be fairly thick).
- Transfer pasta to a large bowl and top with more cheese and a few additional grinds of pepper.
Now, the other dish I made this week made use of a bunch of fresh herbs. A grilled cheese is always an easy and quick thing to make and I had purchased a block of fontina (domestic, not the true Italian kind, but still good) for something else I ended up not making. This is so good and I love love love all the herbs and the gooey meltiness of the cheese here. While I used some sourdough sandwich bread I think this would be fantastic on a nice crusty loaf of como or peasant bread. All those holes would get gooey cheese and make for a nice contrast in texture.
Herbed Fontina Grilled Cheese
herbed fontina grilled cheese
recipe from The Original Dish
ingredients:
- ½ lb fontina cheese, shredded
- 1 tbsp chopped dill
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 8 slices sourdough bread (about 6” diameter and ¼” thick)
- 3 tbsp butter
directions:
- Combine the fontina, dill, parsley, chives, and scallions in a mixing bowl. Toss well until combined.
- Lay the bread out and evenly distribute the cheese mixture over 4 slices in a tight mound. Close each sandwich with another slice of bread and press firmly.
- Heat a large skillet (or griddle) over medium heat. Add the butter and let melt. Carefully transfer the sandwiches to the hot skillet (work in two batches or use two skillets if your sandwiches don’t all fit). Cook on one side until golden brown. Lower the heat as needed if the bread is getting too dark.
- Flip the sandwiches over. Cook until golden and the cheese is melted.
Grilled sandwiches fresh out of the pan. I only made 2 and kept the remaining cheese mixture to make another batch. It would also be a good addition to an omelete or scrambled eggs!
So that’s what I have been cooking here! Tell us what you have been cooking and eating at your place! Got a question? Have a great tip you learned? Jump on in and join the discussion!
