Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a restorative holiday season and are having an easy adjustment into 2021! I know it has been a stressful couple months but I’m confident in the growth this year can bring and am wishing you all so much peace and happiness! I took the first few weeks of this month to plan out some blog content for the next few months and I can’t wait to share it all with you. A lot of people I know said they would like to see more food recipes on here so we are starting with just that! Today I’m going to show you all how I made this Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi Mac n’ Cheese! Yep, you heard that right.
One of my goals on this blog is to take Italian classics and get creative with them. I’ve seen a lot of people making Cacio e Pepe Mac n’ Cheese as of late but I thought we could do one better than that and make the pasta base homemade Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi instead, and let me tell ya, this recipe was a success! If you’re ready to indulge, definitely try this one out. Oh, and don’t drink every time you hear the phrase Cacio e Pepe in this blog post, haha.
Let’s break this all down for a second. In case you didn’t know, Cacio e Pepe is a super simple but super delicious Italian dish. It originated in the Roman area and has been popular since ancient times. Basically, pasta water, pepper, and Pecorino Romano come together to make a light and tasty sauce that’s very easy to throw together. Typically it’s served with any long, tubular pasta such as bucatini, but spaghetti works too!
Since the dish itself already has a cheesy element, I figured turning it into a Mac n’ Cheese would be easy enough, (even if it defies the basics of this recipe and all the people of Rome might want to slap me). I’ve also seen a few sites doing Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi and decided it would be fun to have that pasta base for an extra boost of flavor rather than any type of Macaroni. Really switching things up around here. If us Italians are all still breathing after that, let’s move on!
This Mac n’ Cheese is more on the simple side using just Pecorino Romano as the main cheese and making a roux for that creaminess. The reason for this being is that the pillowy, soft homemade gnocchi just would not be able to support a heavy cheese sauce. But don’t you worry, that classic Cacio e Pepe flavor is there and is just that much more outstanding! I think I’ve talked about this recipe far too much at this point so I’ll contain the excitement and move onto the instructions.
You of course can use store bought gnocchi if you do not have time to make it. It will still taste amazing, you’ll just be missing that tiny bit of extra Cacio e Pepe flavor. The homemade gnocchi is made from Yukon gold potatoes, all-purpose flour, salt, pepper and a little Pecorino Romano. I chose all-purpose because I know that is what most of us have access too, but you can adapt the recipe for something like 00 flour if you please!
Three important things about making gnocchi: 1) let your potatoes cool down before adding in the ingredients, you don’t want scrambled eggs, 2) push your potatoes through a ricer or cheese grater before adding the other ingredients for a smooth dough, 3) do not over work the dough or knead in too much flour, otherwise you will not have that pillow-y, soft texture. If you keep these things in mind you should end up with wonderful little gnocchi!
I should also mention that the temperature of your kitchen can affect the dough like many other recipes! Just try to use your intuition, if you’re not done adding the amount of flour written and the dough looks done, stop. If you’ve added all the ingredients and it’s still far too wet, knead a little bit more flour in at a time. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky, but not so sticky you can’t work with it.
After you roll out the dough and cut it into little pieces of gnocchi, you can either leave them be or roll them on a fork or gnocchi board for the little ridges. I say either/or because the ridges are typically there to cling onto a thinner sauce, and this sauce is on the cheesier side so it’ll stick to anything. It is classic though, so I went ahead and did it! Be sure to dust with flour before setting aside so they do not end up sticking together. Set aside.
The gnocchi is honestly the most time consuming part, the rest is easy! Put a pot of salted water to boil. Heat up olive oil and butter on any pan that is oven safe. I personally used my dutch oven for this recipe. Whisk in the flour, and then the milk to make a roux. Since we are only using one cheese, this will just ensure the gnocchi is more Mac n’ cheese-like with a creamier base. Add in the Pecorino Romano and both peppers and whisk. Boil your gnocchi only until they rise! This only took me 30 seconds. Drain and add to the cheesy sauce we just made, and gently fold in! We don’t want to break any of the delicate gnocchi.
If this mixture looks a little too saucy or loose at this point don’t worry because it is going under the broiler for a few minutes. Top with extra Pecorino or Parmesan and more pepper, and put under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the cheese on top is nice and golden. You really do not want to do more than this because the gnocchi is already cooked, and you don’t want it to get gummy.
Let cool for 10 minutes before digging in! The cheese on top should’ve formed a nice little crispy crust and the gnocchi underneath should be creamy and cheesy. Serve and enjoy!
I hope you all will try this recipe, I know it sounds like a lot of work, but once the gnocchi is done it is truly so easy. If you do try it out, please let me know! Hope you enjoy 🙂
With Love,
Jenna
Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi Man n' Cheese
Ingredients
For the Homemade Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi:
- 1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
- 1 tsp finely ground pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano
For the Mac n' Cheese Sauce:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano
- 1 tbsp finely ground black pepper
- salt to taste
- coarsely ground black pepper to taste
- more Pecorino Romano, or Parmesan to top
Instructions
For the Homemade Cacio e Pepe Gnocchi
- Put the potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to a simmer. Cook until you can easily stick a fork through the potato. I cooked mine for about 26 minutes.
- Once drained and cooled, peel the potatoes. Put the potatoes through a ricer or push them through a cheese grater if you do not have one. This will help ensure a smooth dough. Set aside to continue cooling.
- In a bowl, mix together the salt, pepper, nutmeg, flour and Pecorino Romano. I would start with 1 cup of flour, then add the rest if need be later on.
- When the potatoes have finally cooled, sprinkle the flour mixture on top and add the beaten egg. Gently fold the ingredients together until a dough forms. Do not overwork the dough!
- Turn the gnocchi dough out onto a floured surface. If need be, continue to knead in the rest of the flour, until the dough is smooth and a little bit sticky.
- Cut the dough into four parts, and then cut each part in half. Roll out one half at a time on a floured surface into a 1/2 inch rope, and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Toss in flour and set aside. Roll them down a gnocchi board or fork if you wish to have ridges. Keep the dough that you are not using covered with a floured dish towel. Repeat these steps with the rest of the dough!
For the Mac n' Cheese Sauce:
- Add the olive oil and butter to a pan on medium heat. Add the flour and whisk to make a roux.
- Add three cups of milk and whisk until smooth. Then, add the Pecorino Romano and mix until you get a cheesy, saucy consistency. Set aside.
Assembly:
- Bring a salted pot of water to a boil on medium heat.
- While waiting for the water to boil, make the sauce with the above directions. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste. Once the water is boiling, add the gnocchi and cook only until the gnocchi rises to the top of the water. This took me only about 30 seconds.
- Drain the gnocchi and add them straight into the cheese sauce. Gently fold them in. Do not mix them in because you will likely break the delicate, soft gnocchi you just put so much time into! The mixture may look a little too loose, that is okay because it is going under the broiler for a bit.
- Turn your broiler setting on your oven to high. Sprinkle any leftover Pecorino Romano over the top of the gnocchi, or grab some Parmesan cheese. Top with some coarsely ground pepper as well then and add to the broiler. Let cook for 5 minutes, or only until the top is golden and a small cheese crust has formed. You do not want to cook it for more than this, as the gnocchi is already cooked and we are not looking to overcook them and end up with gummy gnocchi. We just want to thicken the sauce a bit and get that crust!
- Let cool slightly, serve with a tiny bit more pepper on top, and enjoy!