The Need To Know Classic That Is: Cacio e Pepe

When people go to Italy, the dish that usually gets the most raves is one of the easiest dishes there is to make. Cacio e pepe, literally cheese and pepper, has been pleasing people since the days of ancient Rome. To get them through a hard day's work, shepherds would bring dried pasta, some hard, salty sheep's milk cheese, and black pepper with them in order to make a filling meal. While not traditional to cacio e pepe, bacon or seafood may be added, and other shapes of pasta may be used. However you serve it, it's simple but sophisticated comfort food at its best. Consider this the dish you deserve for surviving this year of the pandemic in the year Two Thousand and Twenty.  

Ingredients

450 g pasta (spaghetti, tonnarelli traditionally)
225 g pecorino Romano, very finely grated
7 g pepper (coarsely ground)
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil. When the water is at a hard boil, add the pasta, then turn off the heat. Place a lid on the pot and remove it from the burner - in 15 minutes you should have perfect al dente pasta. Save at least two cups of the pasta water after draining the pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large pan over medium heat with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the pepper, and let it cook for about 20 seconds. Pour 175 mL into the pan and let it boil.
3. Add the drained pasta to the hot pan. Using tongs, toss the pasta to coat it in the peppery liquid, then sprinkle in about 80% of the cheese. Keep tossing the pasta, adding more pasta water as needed to make a creamy sauce that sticks to the pasta, tasting and adding salt as needed.
4. Once done, finish with the remaining cheese and more pepper. Serve immediately.

Bake Yourself Happy - Skuish Cookies

Cookie connaisseurs rejoice - Skuish will change how you think about baking cookies. This Ottawa-Toronto based company sells and delivers (free of charge) raw and frozen cookies. The cookies last up to three months in the freezer and can be baked straight from frozen, allowing you to quickly whip up a batch of cookies better than the ones that come from that chemically enhanced doughboy. 

Skuish cookies don't use eggs, butter, or milk in their cookie dough, which is good news for those allergic to those ingredients, and they have plant-based cookie options as well for vegan and vegetarian tastes. The chocolates used in their signature flavours contain milk, while the plant-based cookie options use chocolate without milk.  Because of their desire to make a positive impact in the communities they sell in, Skuish plans to do their part to end child hunger in Canada by donating five meals for every box sold, so no need to feel guilty for not baking from scratch. 

When the sample I was graciously sent arrived this week, I didn't expect billiard ball-sized cookie dough balls when I opened the box. Weighing in at about a quarter-pound each, I took one from each bag sent, their Classic Chocolate Chunk, White Chocolate Birthday Cake, and Resse Peanut Butter Crumble flavours.  Then it just a matter of following the instructions on the box, and soon I had three giant cookies fresh from the oven. You may have to adjust how long you keep your baked goods in the oven depending on whether you prefer your cookies soft and gooey, or crisp and crunchy, but it will be worth the wait. My favourite was the Resse Peanut Butter Crumble, which I devoured during a coffee break. If you need a last-minute gift idea for that special cookie monster in your life, or if you want to really impress Santa this year, you can't go wrong with Skuish cookies. Just be sure you have something at the ready to dunk them in.

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