Cacio e Pepe Cheese Coins
These super-tender and buttery treats — basically savory, slice-and-bake shortbread cookies loaded with cheese and edged with cracked pepper — are adapted from a recipe in The Cookie That Changed My Life, by Nancy Silverton.
Enjoy them with a glass of Italian white wine, your favorite spritz or a cocktail.
The recipe makes two slice-and-bake logs, about 2 dozen coins each. Slice and bake them both, or freeze one for use later. Transfer it to the fridge the day before you’re ready to bake it.
I’m not including the measurements by-the-cup from the book, as the volume measurement can vary so widely depending on the grater used. (Silverton’s book says 2 ounces / 57 grams of the Parmigiano would be 1/2 cup; when I grated 57 grams, I got nearly 2 cups. In case you don’t have a scale (though you ought to if you bake!), go by the size of the block you’re grating. It won’t be exact, but it’ll be more accurate than a volume measurement of grated cheese. For purposes of estimating, 57 grams/ 2 ounces of cheddar cheese is a block about 6 X 3.8 X 2.5cm (2 1/4 X 1 1/2 X 1 inches).
Makes about 4 dozen coins.
Ingredients
For the confit garlic and garlic oil
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and stem-end trimmed off
1 cup olive oil (or as needed)
For the coins
57 grams (2 ounces) Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
57 grams (2 ounces) Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
57 grams (2 ounces) sharp white cheddar, shredded
315 grams ( 2 1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon chile flakes
169 grams (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
116 grams (1/2 cup) crème fraîche
For rolling
3 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
1. To make the confit garlic and garlic oil, put the garlic in the smallest saucepan you have and add enough olive oil to barely cover it. Heat the oil over high heat until you start to hear the first sizzling noises and see the first rapid bubbles bubbling up. Reduce the heat so the oil is barely simmering and simmer until the garlic is very soft and spreadable and just barely golden, about 30 minutes. (Keep a careful eye on the garlic and reduce the heat as needed so it doesn’t brown.) Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
2. To make the coins, put the Romano, Parmigiano and cheddar in a medium bowl and mix with your hands to combine.
3. Put the flour, salt and chile flakes in a large food processor and pulse to combine the ingredients. Add the butter, the garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil, and pulse until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Transfer the contents of the food processor to a large bowl. Add the mixed cheeses and mix gently with your hands to combine. Make a well in the center of the ingredients with your hands. Add the crème fraîche to the well and draw the dry ingredients toward the center with your hands to combine everything. As you are bringing the ingredients together, smash the bigger pieces between your fingers to break them up, stopping when the ingredients are still crumbly.
4. Transfer the rough dough to a work surface, and bring the crumbs together with your hands. Knead to form a homogenous dough. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. Divide the dough in half. Place one portion of dough on the plastic wrap and shape it into a log 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the log tightly in the plastic, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper. Repeat, shaping and wrapping the remaining dough into a second log. Place the wrapped logs in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
5. Adjust the oven racks so one is in the top third and the other is in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 177 degrees C/ 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
6. Distribute half the ground pepper as evenly as you can over an area of a work surface about as wide as your log is long. Remove one of the logs from the fridge, unwrap it and brush it lightly with a little of the garlic oil (don’t brush the ends). Roll the log in the pepper to coat it, as evenly as possible. Place it on a cutting board and use a long sharp knife to slice it into 7 mm / 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them. (If the coins become misshapen when you transfer them, reshape them with your fingers.)
7. Place one baking sheet on each rack of the oven and bake until the coins are firm to the touch, the centers are golden brown and the edges are darker brown, 16 to 18 minutes, switching racks and rotating the baking sheets from front to back halfway through the baking time so the coins bake evenly. Remove from the oven. Repeat, coating, slicing and baking the second log in the same way. They only need to cool briefly before serving. Be sure to save the remaining garlic oil, covered in the refrigerator, for another use.
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Cacio e Pepe Cheese Coins
Ingredients
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and stem-end trimmed off
- 1 cup olive oil (or as needed)
- 57 grams (2 ounces) Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
- 57 grams (2 ounces) Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
- 57 grams (2 ounces) sharp white cheddar, shredded
- 315 grams ( 2 1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon chile flakes
- 169 grams (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 116 grams (1/2 cup) crème fraîche
- 3 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
- To make the confit garlic and garlic oil, put the garlic in the smallest saucepan you have and add enough olive oil to barely cover it. Heat the oil over high heat until you start to hear the first sizzling noises and see the first rapid bubbles bubbling up. Reduce the heat so the oil is barely simmering and simmer until the garlic is very soft and spreadable and just barely golden, about 30 minutes. (Keep a careful eye on the garlic and reduce the heat as needed so it doesn’t brown.) Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
- To make the coins, put the Romano, Parmigiano and cheddar in a medium bowl and mix with your hands to combine.
- Put the flour, salt and chile flakes in a large food processor and pulse to combine the ingredients. Add the butter, the garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of the garlic oil, and pulse until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Transfer the contents of the food processor to a large bowl. Add the mixed cheeses and mix gently with your hands to combine. Make a well in the center of the ingredients with your hands. Add the crème fraîche to the well and draw the dry ingredients toward the center with your hands to combine everything. As you are bringing the ingredients together, smash the bigger pieces between your fingers to break them up, stopping when the ingredients are still crumbly.
- Transfer the rough dough to a work surface, and bring the crumbs together with your hands. Knead to form a homogenous dough. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. Divide the dough in half. Place one portion of dough on the plastic wrap and shape it into a log 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the log tightly in the plastic, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper. Repeat, shaping and wrapping the remaining dough into a second log. Place the wrapped logs in the refrigerator to chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
- Adjust the oven racks so one is in the top third and the other is in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 177 degrees C/ 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
- Distribute half the ground pepper as evenly as you can over an area of a work surface about as wide as your log is long. Remove one of the logs from the fridge, unwrap it and brush it lightly with a little of the garlic oil (don’t brush the ends). Roll the log in the pepper to coat it, as evenly as possible. Place it on a cutting board and use a long sharp knife to slice it into 7 mm / 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them. (If the coins become misshapen when you transfer them, reshape them with your fingers.)
- Place one baking sheet on each rack of the oven and bake until the coins are firm to the touch, the centers are golden brown and the edges are darker brown, 16 to 18 minutes, switching racks and rotating the baking sheets from front to back halfway through the baking time so the coins bake evenly. Remove from the oven. Repeat, coating, slicing and baking the second log in the same way. They only need to cool briefly before serving.
