Lemony Arugula Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe
From Cravings [1] by Chrissy Teigen
Notes
Some say love conquers all, but I say cacio e pepe does. It’s true, John and I fell for each other and got married in Lake Como, Italy, but it’s also where I became a slave to this pasta dish, which is super peppery and cheesy and is basically the boss of me whenever I make it. At first I was a little worried: Since I first tasted it when I was all gooey-romancey in Italia, would it weather the trip home? DID I HAVE PASTA GOGGLES ON? Thankfully, I adore it as much now as I did then — even more, actually.
Which is a good thing to be able to say about pasta recipes as well as husbands.
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
12 ounces dried spaghetti
1/4 pound (about 3/4 cup) pancetta or bacon, finely diced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons (about 4 big cloves) minced garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
3 cups baby arugula
Directions
- In a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti to al dente according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water (it comes in handy), then drain the pasta.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the pancetta over medium-high heat until crisped, 7 to 9 minutes. Add the olive oil, then add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the lemon juice to the skillet, then toss in the drained pasta and toss to coat. Add the Parm and toss, adding the pasta water, a couple of tablespoons at a time, just to help the cheese coat the pasta. Add the arugula and toss until it wilts, about 1 minute. Season to taste with additional salt, lots of black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Serve with more Parm.
Reprinted from Cravings: Recipes For All the Food You Want to Eat. Copyright © 2016 by Chrissy Teigen. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Information
- Category
- Main Dishes, Pasta
- Yield
- Serves 4
- Total Time
- 24 minutes, 59 seconds