Kristen Miglore makes Tony Kim's "Cacio" e Pepe

04/27/23 • 13 min

On Play Me a Recipe, your favorite cooks will walk you through their most treasured recipes, offering all the insider tips, stories, and tricks you won't get from a written recipe—and you'll be right alongside them, every step of the way. Feel free to pause, jump back, or navigate the steps via the podcast chapters.

If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Kristen starts listing them at 1:52) before starting the episode.

Tony Kim's "Cacio" e Pepe

Kosher salt, to taste
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons white miso
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Sichuan pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1 portion fresh ramen noodles (or dry ramen noodles in a pinch)

Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash together the butter and miso with a fork until smooth.
Melt the miso butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chicken stock, Sichuan pepper, white pepper, and black pepper, and bring to a boil.
Add the noodles into the boiling pot of water and cook until they are relaxed but still firmer than al dente, since they’ll continue cooking in the sauce, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Using chopsticks or tongs, lift the noodles out of the water and into the miso butter sauce. Stir and toss the noodles in the sauce until the noodles are cooked through and the sauce is thickened, about 1–2 more minutes, adding a little bit more chicken stock if the sauce gets too thick. The noodles should be lightly coated in a buttery, peppery sheen. Taste, add a pinch of salt if needed, toss one more time, and heap onto a plate. Sprinkle lightly with each of the peppers, and serve immediately.
**Tony Kim's original recipe called for a teaspoon of each type of pepper, which I wimpily scaled back—because I know some of you will be as wimpy as me (though the Roman chef Marco Baccanelli does describe traditional cacio e pepe as "violent," so a tablespoon of pepper isn't out of place). Adjust the pepper amounts to your taste.

Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at [email protected]!

Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Kristen starts listing them at 1:52) before starting the episode.

Tony Kim's "Cacio" e Pepe

Kosher salt, to taste
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons white miso
1/2 cup chicken stock, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Sichuan pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste), plus more for garnish**
1 portion fresh ramen noodles (or dry ramen noodles in a pinch)

Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mash together the butter and miso with a fork until smooth.
Melt the miso butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chicken stock, Sichuan pepper, white pepper, and black pepper, and bring to a boil.
Add the noodles into the boiling pot of water and cook until they are relaxed but still firmer than al dente, since they’ll continue cooking in the sauce, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Using chopsticks or tongs, lift the noodles out of the water and into the miso butter sauce. Stir and toss the noodles in the sauce until the noodles are cooked through and the sauce is thickened, about 1–2 more minutes, adding a little bit more chicken stock if the sauce gets too thick. The noodles should be lightly coated in a buttery, peppery sheen. Taste, add a pinch of salt if needed, toss one more time, and heap onto a plate. Sprinkle lightly with each of the peppers, and serve immediately.
**Tony Kim's original recipe called for a teaspoon of each type of pepper, which I wimpily scaled back—because I know some of you will be as wimpy as me (though the Roman chef Marco Baccanelli does describe traditional cacio e pepe as "violent," so a tablespoon of pepper isn't out of place). Adjust the pepper amounts to your taste.

Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at [email protected]!

Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Previous Episode

Dan Pelosi makes Mom's Portuguese Rice

If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below before starting the episode (Dan starts listing them at 0:39).

Mom's Portuguese Rice
Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 pound linguiça, cut into 1/8-inch thick coins on a diagonal
1 red pepper, chopped small
1 large white onion, chopped small
1 heaping tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup long grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
A handful of chopped parsley

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to a medium-sized oven safe pot or dutch oven. Over low heat, let olive oil heat up for about 5 minutes. Add linguiça coins to the pot and spread them out evenly. Cook linguiça until coins are brown and crispy on both sides, flipping the coins over half way through, about 5-7 minutes. Remove cooked linguiça from the pot and set aside on a plate.

3. Your pot will have a gorgeous orange oil left in from the fried linguiça. Add the chopped pepper, chopped onion, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper to the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring until browned, about 5-7 minutes.

4. Add 1 heaping tablespoon smoked paprika and stir until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

5. Add the entire can of tomato paste and stir until everything is combined and the paste starts to caramelize, about 2-3 minutes.

6. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken stock and deglaze pan, stirring until all the crispy bits come off the pot into the mix.

7. Add 1 cup rice, 2 bay leaves and the linguiça (scrape any oil off the plate into the pan!) and stir until everything comes to a boil.

8. Place the cover on to your pot and place your pot into a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes until rice is cooked through. If you check your rice needs more liquid as it cooks, add the extra 1⁄2 cup of chicken stock to pot, stir, and place back in to oven.

9. When rice is fully cooked, remove pot from oven and keep it covered, off-heat, for 5-10 minutes. This will make the rice extra creamy.

10. Served topped with chopped parsley and enjoy!

Bonus: If you wanted to add crispy chicken thighs to this dish, it really makes a great addition. Just start off with your chicken thighs skin down in your pot and cook them over medium until the skin releases from the pot, maybe 8-10 minutes. Flip over and cook about 5 minutes on the other side. Set thighs aside, and start your recipe at step 1, using the grease from the chicken instead of the 1⁄4 cup of olive oil. Place the chicken thighs skin side up on top of rice before you place pot in oven and they will cook along with the rice!

Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at [email protected].

Next Episode

Eden Grinshpan makes Poached Eggs with Freekeh Tabouleh, Harissa & Yogurt

Top Chef Canada host and Eating Out Loud author Eden Grinshpan dices, poaches, and swooshes her way through this Turkish-inspired poached eggs recipe with harissa and tabbouleh.

If you're cooking along, here's the recipe we're making today. Go ahead and grab the ingredients below (Eden starts listing them at 4:25) before starting the episode.

Poached Eggs with Freekeh Tabouleh, Harissa & Yogurt

Serves 2

Poached Eggs with Freekeh Tabbouleh

1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt with a large pinch of salt
2 tablespoons harissa, store-bought or homemade, plus more as needed
Freekeh-Celery Tabbouleh (below)
Aleppo pepper or red chile flakes
Flaky sea salt

Freekeh-Celery Tabbouleh

2 cups cooked cracked freekeh
2 cups chopped fresh parsley
2 cups chopped fresh dill
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Poached Eggs with Freekeh Tabbouleh

Fill a medium pot with about 5 inches of water and add the kosher salt. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the vinegar and create a gentle vortex in the water by swirling it in a circle with a spoon. Reduce the heat to low and carefully crack the eggs into the water one at a time. Continue gently stirring in a circular motion to keep the egg whites from getting too wispy. Cook for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Schmear the bottom of two bowls with the lemony yogurt (about a couple tablespoons each), then top with 2 poached eggs. Drizzle with the harissa (I like using the oil that settles on top—use more than you think you need). Mound the tabbouleh next to the eggs, sprinkle everything with Aleppo and sea salt, and serve

Freekeh-Celery Tabbouleh

In a large bowl, mix together the freekeh, parsley, dill, and celery. Add the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and mix once more to combine.

Is there a recipe you'd like to hear us make? Email it to us at [email protected].

Lobby Time Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/