Beans Take Center Stage In This Remake Of Cacio E Pepe

Cacio e pepe is as delicious as it is simple. It consists only of a few ingredients: Pecorino Romano, pasta (bucatini is a great choice), pasta water, butter, and black pepper. It is sumptuous, savory, and easy to make. While there is no such thing as improving on perfection (cacio e pepe being the perfection), there are some ways in which you can mix it up. For example, you can swap pasta for beans. Beans may not seem like the best swap for pasta, but they can be a great, filling, and tasty substitute for those looking to pack more legumes into their diet.

What makes beans a great choice for pairing with a cacio e pepe sauce is their taste and texture, particularly if you pick the right bean. For this dish, you'll want a white, buttery, and creamy taste. Beans such as butter beans, like Eden's Organic Butter Beans, which are large, tender, and mild in flavor, or cannellini beans, such as Bush's Cannellini Beans, which share a similar flavor profile, can make a great base for the dish. They will go well with the sharp, cheesy taste of your Pecorino or parmesan and the bite of your black pepper. You can enjoy your cacio e pepe beans on their own, served up in a bowl with a spoon, or scoop up your sauced beans with some crunchy bread for added dimension.

Switching out pasta for beans isn't the only alteration required when making this dish. After all, a large part of making cacio e pepe sauce is combining pasta water with the cheese to form a sauce. Without pasta, this mixture isn't possible. So you'll have to build the sauce in a different way. To start, you'll want to bloom your black pepper by sauteing it in butter, then add in your beans and a small amount of vegetable stock. The veggie stock will add some dimension to your sauce. Once your beans and stock begin to simmer, add cheese and butter to taste. The result will be just as cheesy and peppery as the original and equally as delicious.

There are also a few ways to zhuzh up the dish. For starters, you can make it extra rich by adding in cream. While cream isn't called for in a traditional cacio e pepe, this isn't technically a cacio e pepe, so it gets a pass. You can also cook your beans with the cheese rind. In terms of cheese, while Pecorino Romano is the traditional choice, you can also use parmesan, though it is important to know the differences between the two before making your selection. This will help the flavor of the cheese to suffuse throughout the sauce and can add to its smooth, rich texture.