It was developed to use a lot of Parmesan which might have gone to waste after the 2012 earthquake that devastated the Emilia-Romagna region of of Italy. The "cacio e pepe" refers to Parmesan cheese and pepper from the classic Roman dish. In this recipe, Parmesan is separated to form an enriched water which is used to cook the risotto rice. Unfortunately, when first published, various versions had obvious errors with crazy quantities of Parmesan so it was difficult to determine what was the correct ratio of cheese to water.
The first I tried was 1500g parmesan to 4L water = 1500g/4000g = 37.5% cheese and was mind-blowing but a rather expensive at that ratio. This one from NPR "corrected" 0.5 Lb and 4 Qt water is 6%, but I found it a bit unspirited. One published in 2015 by Bottura himself is 1Kg/2Kg (50%) which seems insane... insanely good I'm sure, but also insanely expensive. I'm hoping to circle in on a ratio which is richly rewarding while still affordable. Here are some other recipes, probably all derived from the original, with ratios between 37% and 60% cheese to water by weight:
- NPR Corrected: 0.5 Lb / 4 US Qt = 227g / 3785 g = 6%
- Saveur (converted to metric): 0.9Kg/1.5L = 60%
- Foodcookture: 992g/2.67L = 37%
- Dissapore: 1.5Kg/4L = 37%
- Menta & Rozmarin: 500g/1Kg = 50%
I make Risotto following Marcella Hazan's recipes, and it's pretty standard: about 2.5 cups liquid to 1 cup rice feeds two as a main course generously; I usually end up adding a bit more liquid, so going to bump this up to 3C liquid. I expect this dish will be a bit rich to have a heaping mound of cheesy risotto as the only thing on the menu, so I'll cut it in half, but preserve the 3:1C ratio, and convert to weight-based metric measurements for sanity. 1 C Arborio rice = 187g, 3 C water is 710 ml, so the ratio is 26%. Ratios of rice to water in the other recipes are all over the map, 12 to 40%; I suspect some horribly bad conversions from metric to imperial and then cups and different ounces:
- NPR: 12% rice:water
- Saveur: 1:3C rice:water = 187/710g = 26%
- Foodcookture: 12.5% rice:water
- Dissapore: 12.5%
- Menta: 40%
So we'll go with 26% rice:water then calculate the weight of the cheese at 37% based on the weight of the water to arrive at the final amounts. Reducing by half for 2 starter portions: 355g water, 37% = 131g cheese, and 26% = 92g rice. Whew!
355 g Water
131 g Parmesan cheese, grated fine
92 g Risotto Rice: Arborio, Carnaroli, Vialone Nano, etc
15 ml Olive Oil
9 g Pepper mix: Black, Szechuan, etc, ground coarse (add in 3 batches)
Heat Water to 80-90C (do not go over 90C) and add grated Parmesan until threads form at the bottom; this took about 5 minutes with cheese grated very finely on a rotary grater. Remove pan and let cool to room temperature. Repeat. Cover and cool 8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Separate the cream from the top and reserve; a scum skimmer works well.
Sieve the liquid Parmesan Water and reserve.
Pull out the solid part and let dry and reserve: you can grate and fry this in a teflon pan or cook in microwave a few seconds to make a frico garnish.
Heat the Parmesan Water in a pot; add 3g of the Pepper.
Sauté 3g of the Pepper mix in the Olive Oil until fragrant.
Add the Risotto and toast until warm.
Add some of the Parmesan Water, stir and cook until mostly reserved;
repeat until the liquid is used and the Rice is toothsome, with a slight bite.
Add the Parmesan Cream and stir in.
You may need to add more water to get the texture right: I had to add 180ml; just make sure you preheat it.
You may need to add more water to get the texture right: I had to add 180ml; just make sure you preheat it.
Plate and dust with the remaining 3g of Pepper.
Top with "sails" of a frico made with the Parmesan solids.
