The Dish: Cacio e pepe recipe from Chef Marc Vetri's 'The Pasta Book'

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The name Marc Vetri has become synonymous with pasta in Philadelphia.

In fact, his South Philly hot spot, Fiorella, just earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award.

Vetri also has a brand new cookbook dedicated just to pasta, simply named “The Pasta Book.”

And now he’s sharing the secrets to a classic Roman dish, cacio e pepe.

“Everything in Italy is always super simple,” Vetri says. “Three ingredients, max.”

Cacio e pepe translates to cheese and pepper.

We’re making Vetri’s version of cacio e pepe in his own home kitchen. It’s one of the recipes you’ll find in “The Pasta Book.”

“Really original name,” Vetri laughs. “It’s what I love.”

But truly, it’s at the heart of what he does.

Flip to the first page of this new book, and you’ll find Sal Vetri, Marc’s late father and muse.

“My love for food, that’s all from him,” Vetri says. “He used to make awesome family meals.”

Vetri says his local line cooks at his restaurants, Vetri, Fiorella, and Pizzeria Salvy, and chefs from his other spots in Las Vegas and Japan, all had a hand in this book.

“They each had something else to share,” he says. “They each had pasta wisdom.”

There’s one main mantra: “Hug the noodle.”

“We’re hugging the noodle because there’s nothing worse than noodles, a ladle of sauce on it, and there you go,” he says. “That’s like a horrible marriage. The sauce and the noodles have to hug.”

It’s been 27 years since he opened his first restaurant, Vetri Cucina, on Spruce Street.

“The Pasta Book” takes us through his journey and all of the pasta along the way.

“It really feels awesome,” Vetri says. “More than any one of the other ones, this one is more of a storybook. It was really super fun.”

Marc Vetri’s Cacio e Pepe Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:
– Kosher salt
– 1 lb. store-bought dried spaghetti
– 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
– 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
– 2 cups finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
– 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook the spaghetti:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like well-seasoned broth. Drop in the spaghetti, give it a stir, and cover the pot to quickly return the water to a boil. Uncover or partially cover to maintain the boil and cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, until it is tender but still a little chewy when bitten, about 10 to 12 minutes.

2. Make the sauce:
Right after dropping the pasta, crush the peppercorns on a cutting board by rocking a heavy pan such as a cast-iron skillet over them. You want a variety of some tiny and some bigger bits of cracked pepper for texture contrast.

When the pasta is about halfway done, in a very large, deep sauté pan big enough to hold the pasta (a 12-inch high-sided pan works well), melt the butter over high heat. Add the cracked pepper and 2 cups of the hot pasta water or saved pasta water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly, like a thin soup, about 3 to 5 minutes. If the pasta isn’t ready yet, remove the sauce from the heat.

3. Marry the pasta and sauce:
When the pasta is ready, return the sauce to high heat and use tongs or a pasta fork to transfer the cooked spaghetti straight from the water to the pan. Shake and swirl the pan until the sauce begins to hug the pasta, about 1 to 2 minutes (keep the pasta moving, adding a little more pasta water if necessary to create a loose, creamy sauce). Toss everything until the pasta and sauce begin to marry.

Remove from heat, add the pecorino and Parmesan, and keep tossing until the sauce thickens further and the pasta and sauce marry, leaving little to no sauce in the pan.

4. Serve:
Use tongs or a pasta fork to dish onto warmed plates, creating some volume by twirling it into a mound. Garnish with additional Parmesan and serve.