Cacio E Pepe

A classic Roman dish, and possibly the easiest pasta dish to prepare and cook. Cacio e pepe means cheese and black pepper, how much simpler can it get! Let's get down to the ingredients and preparation. Do note that use only the freshest ingredients you can get for this dish. Pre-cracked black pepper and pre-grated cheese just won't make the cut.

Cacio E Pepe (Serves 1, 20 minutes)
Ingredients:
A bunch of spaghetti, enough for 1 serving
Black peppercorns
A block of pecorino romano cheese (parmeggiano reggiano is a good substitute)
Extra virgin olive oil

Other things you will need:
A deep pot, half filled with water
5 teaspoons of salt
A timer
Cheese grater
Ladle

Steps:
1. Add 5 teaspoons of salt to a deep pot, half filled with water. Bring it to boil.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, heat up a pan to toast the black peppercorns to get the best aroma out of them. After toasting for about 3 minutes on high heat, remove from the pan and crack them using a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, you can put them into a sturdy bowl and crack them using the end of a knife's handle.  
3. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and set the timer according to the instructions on the packaging.
4. While the spaghetti is cooking, grate the cheese. A couple of handfuls will be enough, but it will also depend on personal preference.
5. Heat up a pan, add in the cracked black pepper and a good lug of extra virgin oil. Add a ladle or two of the water from the pasta pot. Allow the liquid to reduce.
6. Before draining the pasta, save 2 ladles of the cooking water from the pasta in case there's not enough sauce.
7. Add the pasta to the pan with the black pepper and oil, toss it gently to ensure that each strand is well coated. Turn the heat off and add in the cheese. Mix the cheese in and continue to stir. Add more cheese till the sauce becomes creamy.
8. Top it off with more grated cheese and some cracked black pepper. Eat it on its own, serve it with a glass of wine, or even a pint a ice-cold beer.
9. Enjoy

Risotto Al Nero Di Sepia

What do you need?
2 Medium Size Squids (gutted, skinned and sliced)
2 Sachets Squid Ink (4g each)
1 Cup Arborio rice
1 Glass dry white wine (about 200ml)
500ml Bonito and Vegetable stock (refer to below for ingredients)
1 Onion, red or white, chopped
5 Cherry tomatoes (Quartered)
3 Portobello mushrooms (Sliced)
A knob of butter
Dried thyme

Stock
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
100g Cabbage
30g Bonito or dried mackerel (can be really hard to find. Bought mine in the Maldives)
1 Bay leaf
600ml Water

Preparation
1. To a soup pot, put the water to boil. Then add in the carrot chunks, cabbage leaves, bay leaf and bonito. Allow it to simmer for 30 minutes or till flavourful enough. The only way to know if the stock is ready is to taste it. Set stock aside and keep warm.
2. Heat up a saucepan and add in the butter with a lug of olive oil. Before the butter melts fully, quickly add in the chopped onions and fry till lightly browned. Chuck in the mushrooms and fry till soft.
3. Add rinsed Arborio rice to the onion and mushroom mixture in the saucepan. Fry till grains become translucent. Add in ¾ of the squid.
4. At this stage, add in the white wine. Followed by the squid ink. This is when you will see the ink dying the whole pot of stuff black.
5. Add in 3 ladles of the stock. Turn the down to medium heat and allow the stock to simmer.
6. Do not stir the risotto too much, or else it will become too sticky. Agitate it by just shaking the saucepan a little every now and then.
7. Add a ladle of stock each time you see the contents of the saucepan get reduced. Continue till you finish the stock.
8. Remove from heat. Set the risotto aside to await serving.
9. Heat up a shallow frying pan. Add some butter and olive oil to the heated pan. Put the cherry tomatoes and remaining squid into the hot pan. This will be a quick stir fry for about 1 minute, depending on the thickness of the squid. Add thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. If you’d like it a bit spicy, a dash of Tabasco sauce will do the job well.
10. Serve the risotto in a nice serving dish. Top it off with the stir fried tomatoes and squid. If you prefer the classic risotto, serve with a good handful of grated pecorino cheese.
11. Enjoy!