Super Bowl Snack Idea: Cacio e Pepe Popcorn
Photo: Michael Harlan Turkell
Cacio e Pepe Popcorn
Makes about 10 cup
Growing up, my sister and I were popcorn fiends. We popped it fresh, doused it in melted butter, and grabbed handful after handful while parked in front of the TV. Inspired by one of Italy’s greatest pastas, cacio e pepe, I make a fresh-popped bowl of hot, crunchy popcorn lightly coated in salty cheese and the bite of freshly ground pepper. If you’re sharing with kids, you may want to portion out their servings before adding the black pepper. I do this for my daughter Stella, who is sensitive to all things spicy. This is easily doubled for a crowd or halved for a couple of people.
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup organic popcorn kernels
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large, high-sided pot with a tight fitting lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over high heat. Drop in a couple of kernels. When those pop, add the rest of the kernels, cover, and shake the pot so the kernels get coated in oil. Continue shaking back and forth over the burner until the popping slows down, 3 to 4 minutes.
Pour the hot popcorn (it needs to be hot or the cheese won’t stick) into a large bowl and quickly add the pecorino, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, a pinch of salt, and a heavy shower of black pepper. Use your hands to toss everything together. Dig in immediately.
Excerpted from A Good Food Day by Marco Canora with Tammy Walker (Clarkson Potter, 2014).
More ways to serve popcorn:
How to make popcorn a healthy kids’ snack
10 ways up upgrade your popcorn
What do you put on your popcorn?
