This piece was written on Dharawal Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Hello all after a missed week! I was at, and am still recovering from, the beautiful disaster that was camping at Splendour in the Grass 2022. When people ask how it was - because it’s going down as an infamous event now - I’m telling people it was really awful but really fun; that’s the only way I can describe it. Kind of like summer camp? I was pretty excited to see some of my favourites like Stella Donnelly, Amyl and the Sniffers, the Babe Rainbow and Pond - but devastated to miss Gorillaz, Joy Crookes & everyone else who wasn’t able to perform on the ill-fated and cancelled Friday. It was a roller coaster but I’m happy to have gone in the end.
if you want to know how it was, basically this picture sums it up.
we were all pretty happy on the sunday when the rain finally gave way for some blue sky.
Anyways - before I went away, I experimented with cashew cheese. It’s not usually my favourite but it does often add that parmesan-like nuttiness that supermarket vegan cheeses are missing. I gave this recipe a go - and it was good! It even grated, and melted in my pasta.
I wouldn’t suggest using just this cheese for the recipe, as it’s pretty strong, but rather use it as an addition to normal white vegan cheese to create a solid parmesan taste.
Cacio e pepe was introduced to me by my lovely friend Selene in Colombia while I was still vegetarian, and I was sold. I knew I’d have to recreate it some day - and here we are! The toasted black peppercorns and the vegan cheese make this recipe irresistible, and uses very few ingredients.
ingredients.
1/2 pack (~250-300g) pasta of choice
250g vegan white cheese, grated coarsely
50g vegan parmesan, grated
1 tbsp vegan butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
Salt, to taste
how to.
In the largest pot you have, bring salted water to a slow boil. Fry the peppercorns in 1 tbsp olive oil until fragrant (2-4 mins). Either grind with a mortar and pestle or do what I did and simply put them back in the grinder once cooled.
Now cook the pasta for 3-4 mins less than the cooking time. We’re gonna cook the rest with the cheese & some extra pasta water to create that starchy creaminess.
In the largest saucepan you have now, add the vegan cheese, butter, and 1 more tbsp olive oil with about 2 ladles of the starchy pasta cooking water on low, stirring often.
Add the pepper, turn off the heat and keep stirring to avoid it getting too thick. Add a few tbsp pasta water if needed.
Drain pasta when it’s cooked (under by 3-4 mins remember) and keep 1 ladle of water. Add to saucepan with the ladle of water and keep cooking on low until al dente or to your liking.
Serve with another tbsp of olive oil and more pepper! We had ours with some crispy lemon brussels sprouts too.