This is another gloriously simple, intensely flavoured pasta, best eaten quickly and hungrily under a warm sun though the deep heat of the pepper is gratifyingly warming on cold winter nights. I list pecorino here, rather than parmesan, simply because, in the first instance, that’s how I came across it (in Rome, many summers ago) and, in the second, because I love its sharper, sourer edge. Sometimes, though, I use the parmesan I always have hanging about, with the zest of a lemon, or half of one, grated in alongside.
You need the black pepper really quite coarsely ground here (though not quite so coarsely as to induce a coughing fit) so if you can’t adjust your pepper mill, bash some peppercorns about in a pestle and mortar instead.
300g capellini
salt
15g unsalted butter
10 tablespoons (about 50g) freshly grated pecorino Romano
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, coarsely ground
Put a panful of water on to boil for the pasta; once it’s come to the boil, add salt then the pasta and cook according to the instructions on the packet. Just before you drain it, though, remove a coffee cupful of its cooking water.
So, drain the pasta and add the butter to the hot pan and then tip in the capellini and toss well, dribbling in a tablespoonful or so of cooking liquid as you do so. Now add the grated pecorino and coarse black pepper and toss well in the residual heat of the pan – adding a little more pasta-cooking liquid if you need the lubrication – before tipping into warmed bowls.
Serves 4 as a starter; or 2 as a main course.