Cacio-e-pepe

[Clipper]

www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/recipes/cacio-e-pepe/fd-9997ac85-da4b-5dcc-9c06-27661634074e

I found this recipe while browsing around this morning. Kathy and I have made spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and grated cheese many times in the past, and I have often taken left over spaghetti and tossed it in a skillet with olive oil, butter, or a combination of both, garlic, and then grated cheese over it on my plate.

This recipe doesn't mention any garlic, but the fresh finely chopped garlic adds a lot of flavor to the dish. I also like it with a little crushed red pepper flakes sprinkled into the oil for a brief period before adding the pasta and pasta water. I will have to try making it by this recipe with the olive oil added to the bowls and swirled around the dish before adding the pasta and pasta water. I imagine that the oil in the dishes when coupled with the pasta water is what makes the sauce creamy.

This simple preparation of pasta makes a quick and easy supper when served with a nice green salad and some crusty bread. We recently purchased a hand held cheese grater with a crank, such as they use in restaurants to grate cheese onto your entree at the table. Freshly grated Romano or Parmesano is the only way to go. None of the processed grated cheese in a plastic bottle here any more. A fair sized wedge of cheese from the specialty cheese section only costs about $7 or so and it lasts for quite a while and is well worth the investment.

[Deleted]

That is why I miss the Italian Salumnaria that was on James St and Brinkerhoff I think anyway the street before Dudley. I always got my wedge of Parm their. Now I use Cora Brand and it is very good. I did buy a small brink of Parm. at Walmart but it was very expensive.

Try making spaghetti with butter and uncooked egg. I just whip some eggs up and add a little cream and parmesan cheese then after the pasta is cooked I return it to the pot and add the egg mixture while stirring real fast. You want to do it so you have a creamy texture not scrambled eggs so temper the egg mixture with a little pasta water first. Always save 1 cup of pasta water in case the mixture is to think. I don't have measurements for this because I have done this since my Mom showed me way back in high school. LOL. Oh I forgot add fresh chopped parsley. You can some chopped up ham to this and green peas. Or chopped up ham and green peas and carrots.

[Clipper]

I lived next door to the Salumeria for a year or so when I was single. I rented an apartment from Benny Julian, the former mayors father. It was the only house on the block, between a liquor store and the Salumeria. It was a great apartment, newly remodeled, with the downstairs apartment rented to all the topless dancers from the Elbow Room on South Street. On weekends, the Salumeria would bake their wonderful and crusty Italian bread. The vent fan from the ovens was in a small alleyway between his store and my bedroom window. The wonderful smell wafting in my window was irresistible. Every Sunday morning I would walk next door for a couple of loaves of his bread, hot from the oven. I also would buy imported provolone and hard salami for sandwiches during the week. The first loaf went rather quickly. Eaten hot from the oven with peanut butter and freshly brewed coffee while reading my Sunday paper. I loved that place. He had barrels of olives in brine. He also had salami's, mortadella, and capicola in the deli case, and huge cheeses hanging from the ceiling. Some of the provolone cheeses weighed 60-70 lbs. His wife made one of the best sub sandwiches I have ever eaten. A mix of Genoa salami, capicola, provolone, lettuce, onions, and hot peppers, drizzled with vinegar and olive oil and sprinkled with Italian spices. That was back in the days when Fitz's Coffee Shop, Rosario's original pizzeria, and Luizi's Drug Store were still open, and James Street was still a place where it was safe to walk at night.

[kit]

I make a similar recipe that was originally called 'Capellini aglio y olio' (Capellini with garlic and oil) by slowly sauteeing garlic in olive oil/butter while the capellini cooks. But towards the end I throw in some blanched broccoli to heat through. Add the cooked capellini, grated Romano and a little water, mix, and I'm ready to dig in.

When I didn't have any broccoli, I've also tried it with quartered Brussels sprouts, peas, and Italian flat beans. Delicious either way.

[Deleted]

Kit, try that with sliced almonds. To die for.

Clipper, the house you speak of is still standing on that block. I remember the Salumeria exactly as you described. Oh the memories.

[Clipper]

Wandering from the subject of food (wandering on Clipper's Corner? Never! haha) I was wondering if Ben Julian is still alive. He was a great guy and a good landlord. He was also quite rich and owned a lot of property in the city. He owned a 3 story apartment building a little farther North from James on one of the side streets in Corn Hill, he owned the apartment building at one time that had been sold when it succumbed to the fatal fire on James next to the site of the old Kemble Street school, he also owned the Sunnyside Motel on Herkimer Road, and the laundromat on Oneida Street and probably several other properties. I saw him last at a wedding reception for one of Kathy's nephews. The reception was at the Chesterfield, and Benny looked as fit and has young as he did back in the late 70's when I rented from him.

[Clipper]

Kit, Kathy makes the same dish with broccoli but uses fettucini as the pasta. I love fresh broccoli florets, steamed lightly and tossed into several pasta dishes. I also use a lot of raw broccoli florets in salads and as a snack to dip in Hidden Valley Ranch.

I was hesitant to use many brussels sprouts in the past, but I have learned to use them and truly enjoy them. Kathy quarters them, roasts them in the oven for a while, then tosses them in a saute pan with bacon lardons. I also like them saute'd with a little balsamic and a some butter. We have also tried them cooked in water, then halved and spread on a baking sheet, sprinkled with freshly grated hard cheese such as Parmesan, and a little grated fresh garlic. She pops them in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 325. She lightly sprinkles them with the garlic grated finely on a microplane and lightly distributed on top of the sprouts. I think she has been known to sprinkle a little sugar on them to counteract any bitterness.

[kit]

Wow! Thanks Alan and Clipper for the ideas. I love either slivered or sliced almonds and I lightly toast them first in a dry frying pan. When they brown a little it doubles the flavor. I'll definitely put some in my next batch of Aglio y Olio.

Also, I tried bacon with the steamed Brussels sprouts but couldn't resist adding chopped onion, garlic, a little flour, vinegar and sugar. After a couple of minutes I added some chicken stock and made what would amount to a German Potato salad but using Brussels sprouts instead of potatoes. It was delicious.

There are so many variations in cooking depending on a person's taste and I love the suggestions I see on this thread. Sometimes my experiments are a dismal flop, but I eat the results anyway. That's the way I learn. Thanks again, guys.