Savory Oatmeal: Cacio e Pepe
Savory oatmeal: steel cut oats slow cooked in chicken broth with pecorino and pepper, topped with a medium fried egg.
I just got home from a two-week trip to Italy, and I’ve been inspired to incorporate more Italian flavors into my recipes.
In the U.S., we frequently use parmesan as a topping on many of our Italian meals: pizza, pasta, etc. However, Italians actually use a lot of pecorino in their food. The difference between parmesan and pecorino is that parmesan is made from cow’s milk and pecorino is made from goat’s milk. Pecorino has a stronger flavor, while parmesan has a more mild flavor. For this recipe, I decided to use pecorino cheese.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
1.5 cups of water
1 chicken bouillon cube. I typically use these Knorr chicken bouillon cubes.
1/2 cup of steel-cut oats. I used Bob’s Red Mill steel-cut oats.
1 oz pecorino
1/4 cup almond milk. I typically use almond milk with just filtered water and almonds like this plain almond milk from Marin Living Foods.
2 eggs
Black pepper
Sea salt (optional)
Steps
Add the water and chicken bouillon cube to a small pot, and bring to a boil.
Add the oats and stir frequently. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how cooked you’d like your oats.
Use a microplane to shred the pecorino cheese into the pot and stir frequently for ~3 minutes. Save a little pecorino to be used as a topping on the egg.
Add the almond milk and pepper and stir frequently ~2 minutes.
When your oats are almost ready, heat up a frying pan. Add a tiny bit of cooking fat of your choice (e.g. avocado oil, butter, ghee) to the pan, and when the pan is heated, add the two eggs to the pan. Cook the eggs to your preference of doneness.
Pour the oatmeal into two bowls and top each bowl with a fried egg. Add sea salt, black pepper, and last bit of shredded pecorino on top.
Enjoy!
Please let me know if you try this recipe. I hope you find it as satisfying as I do.
