Cacio e Pepe Crackers


The Recipe

Makes: 40 thin crackers
Preparation: 15 minutes and overnight
Baking Time: 15-18 minutes

Cacio e Pepe is a Roman pasta dish that is known all over the world. So, I baked the flavours into these crackers, just for fun.

Cacio e Pepe.
How can such a simple dish of cheese, pasta, and pepper be so memorable and popular, being served in its true form and thousands of other variations all around the world?

Good food doesn’t have to be complicated and can be accessible to everyone.

I wrote a short and sweet piece on Cacio e Pepe HERE if you feel like taking a little look at the history behind the dish, or you can simply bake these!!

Cheese and Pepper Crackers, are nothing overly complicated or particularly fancy, but they are delightfully delicious, salty with a punch of spice, and both crumbly and crisp. We don’t need to be purists here because we are turning an actual pasta dish into crackers, so you can use whatever cheese you have on hand. If you want to use the best pepper in the world, look no further than Hong Spices Pepper from Kampot, Cambodia.

The wonderful thing about these crackers is they can be made way ahead of time, and stored in the fridge until they are ready to bake. I made thousands of these over Christmas a few years back and they were a hit. Because of the high-fat content in these crackers, they will be piping hot and floppy coming straight out of the oven. They will need to be cooled on the tray until they crisp up before you transfer them to your mouth or on a plate.

Once they are baked, they last for a week or two in a sealed container so pros all around, I would say.

 

INGREDIENTS

125g plain flour
3g fine sea salt
150g unsalted butter
5g good quality cracked black pepper
2g dried thyme

150g Pecorino Romano OR Parmigiano Reggiano OR any other hard cheese you want!
1 medium egg (around 50g)

METHOD

  1. Mix the flour, salt, pepper and thyme together

  2. Rub in the butter until it becomes a coarse breadcrumb consistency.

  3. Add in the cheese and egg. Mix together with your hands or in a mixer until all the ingredients are intertwined. Throw in 1tblsp cold water if need for a little bit of liquid to bring the mixture together.

  4. Press the dough together and roll in cling film, creating a log about 5cm in diameter.

  5. Place in the fridge on a flat service overnight

  6. When you are ready to bake the crackers, remove the cling film and heat the oven to 180’C/356’F

  7. Slice the log into 4mm pieces and place on a lined baking tray.

  8. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until the crackers are golden.

  9. Allow to cool before eating or moving them to a container to store.