Serves 8-10
1 tablespoon Fresh Coarsely Ground Black Pepper About 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns before grinding Plus coarse pepper for garnish 1 pound Spaghetti alla Chitarra or Tonnarelli* Kosher Salt For salting the water 1 1/3 cup Finely Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese Divided 1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1. Heat the pepper in a small hot skillet until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Be careful not to scorch the pepper. Set aside. 2. Boil water in a large pot and generously season with salt (it should taste like the ocean). Add pasta and cook to be a bit firmer than aldente (strain from the water 1-2 minutes sooner than the package instruction indicates). Before draining the pasta, remove 2 cups of the starchy pasta water and set aside 3. Let the pasta cool for a minute (if the pasta is too hot, the cheese will start to clump immediately and you will have a gloppy mess). 4. Whisk the pepper, 1 cup pecorino romano, and parmesan in a large bowl and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of pasta water gradually to the cheese mixture. Mix vigorously with a large wooden spoon. Add more water as needed until the cheese mixture resembles bechamel sauce. You should be using less than a cup of water at this stage of the recipe. 5. Add the pasta to the cheese and toss once again vigorously. Add more pasta water ¼ cup at a time while continuously tossing the pasta until all the cheese has melted, the pasta is creamy, and each strand of pasta is coated. (You will probably use about 1 ½ cups of water altogether for the recipe). 6. Plate the pasta and sprinkle additional pecorino and coarse pepper on top to garnish. Serve immediately.
*Spaghetti alla chittara is easier to find in Italian American grocery stores and is also known as maccheroni alla chitarra. It is a variety of egg pasta typical of the Abruzzo region in Italy, with a square cross section about 2–3 mm thick. Tonnarelli are a similar pasta from Lazio, but difficult if not impossible to find in local stores.