Hello, my friends! This week, I am so pleased to bring you a blog post sponsored by one of my fave cheeses, Grana Padano. These days, I’ve been busy rehearsing for and performing in a show (our last performance was just yesterday), and doing a lot more photography out around town, so I have been treasuring my time at home.
When I’m going through hundreds of photos from a portrait session, or spending hours going through a music score, I like to have some cheese on hand to keep my energy levels up and my belly satisfied. The most versatile cheeses will work well both on a cheese board and in a recipe! Enter Grana Padano. This cheese, created nearly 900 years ago by Cistercian monks in the Po River plain in Italy, has graced countless tables, and has become a staple in kitchens all over the world. Its granular texture, full, fruity, brothy flavor, and umami aroma all mean I am going to grate a ton of this cheese over almost any dish.
When I need to get some quick meals made, one standby is cacio e pepe, with its creamy, cheesy, peppery simplicity. I had two different ages of Grana Padano on hand, the “Grana Padano” aged 9-16 months, with slightly creamy notes; and the “Grana Padano Riserva” aged over 20 months, with a fuller, deeper flavor. With that combo in my fridge, I thought I would try a version of cacio e pepe where I switch out the traditional Pecorino Romano with the Riserva. Annnd, it worked! M. Cheesemonger and I whipped this up in just a few minutes, and went right on feasting on this all-Grana Padano cacio e pepe.
Here’s M. Cheesemonger’s and my recipe:
Ingredients:
¾ cup grated Grana Padano
¾ cup grated Grana Padano Riserva, with some extra for serving (all right, you caught me! I like to add a lot of cheese to my recipes)
8 oz tagliatelle or spaghetti pasta
2 Tb olive oil
1 Tsp freshly ground black or white pepper
Salt to taste (I almost never add extra salt, though)
Equipment:
Large (5 or 6 quart) pot for boiling pasta
Cheese grater or microplane
1 skillet or wok, preferably cast iron (After trial and error, I only make my cacio e pepe with cast iron. It makes a huge difference, and prevents the cheese from clumping.)
Measuring cup (I have a Pyrex 2 cup) to scoop out and reserve some pasta water for your sauce.
Process:
Bring 3 quarts of water to boil. Salt the water a bit; a large pinch or two should do it. Add the pasta, and cook until the pasta is 2 minutes away from being al dente.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil in the skillet/wok. When the oil is hot, add the ground pepper and stir for a minute to toast the pepper. Turn heat to low.
When the pasta is 2 minutes away from al dente, scoop some pasta water (at least 1 cup) and set it aside. Drain the pasta. Add ½ cup pasta water to skillet. Place pasta in the skillet, and stir to coat the pasta with oil and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in the cheese, little by little, constantly tossing and stirring to evenly coat the pasta. Add more pasta water as needed to keep the consistency creamy. Serve immediately, with additional grated cheese.
Enjoy!!
If you want to see more, check out my Instagram feed for me wielding two huge chunks of Grana Padano, plus the other photos for this post!
You can find Grana Padano wherever fine cheeses are sold. Visit the Grana Padano website to learn more about this amazing cheese!
Thank you, Grana Padano, for this chance to share this ancient, classic, delicious cheese!
This post was sponsored by Grana Padano. I received payment and product to write this post. All thoughts are my own.
