Fusilli Lunghi Cacio e Pepe with Vine Roasted Tomatoes
Nothing like #worldpastaday being on a Monday because boy do we need some pasta to help us begin this week and give us the strength, power, drive and stamina to function, survive and thrive. That’s how much we need you, pasta. That’s how much we rely on you.
I shall keep it simple because this recipe is nothing more than simple. I don’t see why I have to do a lot of preamble when there isn’t much preamble to be done.
Heard of cacio e Pepe? The famous classic Italian combination of butter, Parmesan and pepper that’s emulsified with a splash of pasta cooking water to form a simple but delicious gooey pasta sauce. There are many alternatives and twists on the base flavours but when world pasta day was in sight, there was nothing stopping me to make it a little bit special.
Truffles of course. Truffles was in my mind and heart. This became the ultimate combination and to be the way you and I celebrate national pasta day. Cheese. Pasta. Truffles. Pepper and a glass of wine. Simple ingredients, bold flavours, little time to create, impressive results.
The key is good Parmesan and good pasta. Without these two ingredients, the dish will be lacking from the start. Grab the cheese from a good Italian deli (better than a supermarket) where you can also pick up a bottle or two of wine for the full Italian experience. For the pasta, there is no looking past Pasta Garofalo. Their pasta is built on the traditional Italian pasta base ingredients and they do not use additives or flavour enhances to alter the integrity of their brand which can have health implications on you. They have an extensive variety of shapes and forms to pick from but they all are Italian staples (some more known than others).
They have shapes for creating soup, shapes for no sauce, little sauce, extra sauce, shapes for catching butter, shapes for kids, shapes for adults only, shapes for special nights or as an everyday occasion. Pasta Garofalo is a brand you can trust and love. They now have suppliers in Germany, USA, Brussels, France, Italy, Australia, the UK and more (see website for full country list).
For this recipe I used their Fusilli lunghi which is basically a squiggly linguine that provides you with small spoons to scoop up truffle butter cheese sauce. Perfect no?
The world is really your oyster on their website. Have a look around, it’s really of national duty on world pasta day.
Most of all, enjoy. Enjoy the flavour, the process, the creation the smiles and their beauty.
Fusilli Lunghi Cacio e Pepe with Vine Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
200 grams Pasta Garofalo Fusilli Lunghi
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter (vegan butter good too)
6 garlic cloves, 3 left whole other 3 diced
1 cup pasta cooking water
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/2 cups parmesan (vegan parmesan good too)
1/2 truffle bulb, shaved
2 small vine tomatoes (roughly 6-8 on the vine)
2 tbsp quality extra virgin olive oil
Method
Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the back of the Garofalo packet. Half way through the cooking, place the 3 whole garlic cloves into the water - complete the pasta cooking. Once cooked to be al-dente, reserve 2 cups (just to be on the safe side) of pasta cooking water and drain the remaining.
Meanwhile, line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place your vine tomatoes on the tray, drizzle with the 2 tablespoons of oil and a pinch of sea salt on each vine. Bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven of 200℃. The tomatoes will be cooked once they begin to blister and spit.
In a small pan, place the butter and the other 3 garlic cloves into a large pan. Cook for 1 minute and once the butter has melted, add the pepper, parmesan and mix well. Add the pasta (removing the 3 whole garlic cloves) and the cooking water and cook on high until the mixture thickens.
To serve, place a twirl of pasta (using tongs or a spaghetti fork) onto a plate. Top with the shaved truffles and one of the baked vine tomatoes. Sprinkle with extra parmesan and cracked pepper. enjoy.
