♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Today on "America's Test Kitchen," I make Julia cacio e pepe.

Jack talks all about store-bought gnocchi and tortellini, and Erin makes me a batch of pasta alla vodka.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

-Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers, slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

-GreenPan Frost, the frozen treat maker that makes ice cream, sorbet, slushies, and more, with a built-in chiller that goes from fresh to frozen.

GreenPan Frost.

-On an American Cruise Lines journey along the legendary Mississippi River, travelers can explore Civil War battlefields and historic riverside towns.

Aboard our modern fleet of American riverboats, guests can experience local culture and cuisine while discovering the music and history that define the mighty Mississippi.

American Cruise Lines, proud sponsor of "America's Test Kitchen."

-Smithey Ironware -- polished for performance, naturally nonstick, clear of chemical coatings, made in America, made to be passed down for generations.

Smithey -- Use it well.

♪♪ -Cacio e pepe is a traditional Roman pasta and it only has three ingredients.

Pasta, Pecorino Romano, and black pepper.

So how you put those ingredients together makes all the difference.

And today Bridget's going to show us how it's done.

-Yeah, with so few ingredients, a little strategy goes a long way because we want a super smooth sauce at the end.

-I think the simplest recipes are the hardest because there's nothing you can cover up any mistakes with.

It's all there to see.

-That's exactly it.

So let's get started with the pepe.

So we are using black peppercorns, as is tradition.

This is 4 teaspoons of black peppercorns.

And we're going to toast them a little bit to really draw out their flavor.

So I've got my Dutch oven, which I'm going to use a few times here, and just cook this over medium heat.

Now there's obviously no visual cue here.

They're going to look exactly the same, but three or four minutes is what we want.

We want the aroma to start to be released.

And that really does force the aromatic compounds, the oils in there to go from the center of the peppercorns towards the outside.

So when we crack them, there's so much more flavor.

All right, we're starting to get a whiff of that peppercorn.

Gorgeous, gorgeous.

It's released some of its flavor.

All right.

So now I want to get these out of the pan and into my mortar and pestle over here.

We're going to coarsely grind these.

And we're doing this -- you could do it in a spice grinder, but I feel like you get a lot more control using this.

-I feel like you get more evenly sized pieces.

-Yes.

-When you use a spice grinder, you get fine dust and then some big pieces.

-Get a whiff of that.

-Oh, you really get the aromas.

-Completely different aroma and really just a much more roasted flavor.

All right.

So that's pretty much as far as I want to go here.

Again coarse grind.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm going to take out 1 1/2 teaspoons of this and just set that aside for a second.

And then this we're going to save for garnish at the end.

-Okay.

-All right.

So on to the cacio.

-Mm-hmm.

-And Pecorino Romano only comes from three areas of Italy, in order for it to be true Pecorino Romano.

Now the cheese that's made over here can only be called Romano.

-Yes.

-And it's often made with cow's milk.

Pecorino Romano should be sheep's milk.

It's got that funk, that salty, briny flavor.

It really can't be beat.

So this is 7 ounces of Pecorino Romano and just cut it into half inch cubes.

-Okay.

-And we're going to use our food processor here.

We're going to pulverize this until it's really finely ground.

In the food processor, I'm going to let this run for about two minutes until it's pulverized.

-Okay.

-All right, let's take a look at this.

I'm going to gingerly reach in there.

Now you can see it's almost a powder.

-Yeah.

It's fluffy.

-All right.

So I'm going to put the lid back on.

There we go.

I'm going to go back here and get a little bit of water.

So this is hot water.

Doesn't need to be boiling water just hot water.

I like to avoid hot water straight out of the tap.

I'm going to measure 1/4 cup here.

All right.

So what we want to do is start to pre-melt the cheese in a way, yes.

-Really?

-So rather than rely on the hot pasta water later, we're going to start the process now.

And by doing this it's going to start the emulsification.

And it's going to end up in a beautiful paste.

So I'm going to turn this on, pour it in gradually and let it go for about a minute.

-Okay.

-All right, so I think that's been about a minute.

Let's turn this off and I'm going to show you what I'm looking for.

This does not have enough water in it.

So what we're looking for is a texture, kind of like sour cream or really thick yogurt.

Spoonable.

Dollopable.

-Okay.

Gotcha.

So a little creamier.

-A little creamier.

This doesn't have quite enough water.

So I'm going to get a little bit of more water.

Up to 1/4 cup.

So I'll go ahead and pour that in.

Now I'm going to put the lid back on.

And you can add up to 1/4 cup.

You just want to check it.

But a couple teaspoons at a time and let it go another minute.

So that's what I'm going to do.

Just pour a little bit in and let it go.

About 2 teaspoons...ish.

-Ah.

-And I think this is pretty close to the texture we want.

All right.

So yeah, you can see how much softer, it's dollopable.

You don't have to spread it around.

-I could see that being the base for a lot of cool sauces actually.

-Oh, yeah.

You're just going to do this all the time.

-I am.

-What other cheese can I make into a paste?

-That's what I was thinking.

-So I'm going to let this go for another minute to make sure everything is incorporated.

And I just want to scrape down the sides here just to make sure everything's in the bottom of that bowl.

All right.

So I'm just going to scrape this back into the bowl that had the cheese to begin with.

And you can see how light and fluffy that is.

-That is such a cool technique.

-It really is.

-Some of the readers on our website also love this technique.

Lauren M. said -- well, first she said, "This is nearly identical to the restaurant quality cacio e pepe" she had in Italy.

"Thanks for the brilliant food tip regarding processing the cheese."

-Yay!

-Yeah, it is brilliant.

-All right, so we've got our cacio.

-Mm-hmm.

-We've got our pepe.

Just need the pasta.

-Okay.

-All right.

It's time to boil our pasta, Julia.

It's not a lot of water in there.

-No, it doesn't look like the usual amount.

-It's 2 quarts of water, 12 ounces of pasta, and just a little bit of salt.

The reason that we don't have a lot of water in here is we want to really concentrate the amount of pasta starch that comes out during the cooking process and use that to help emulsify the sauce itself.

-Makes sense.

-So this is 12 ounces of thick spaghetti.

Sometimes called spaghettoni.

I'm going to add this right in to our 2 quarts of water along with just 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.

Not a lot, but there's a lot of salt in that cheese.

-Yes, there is.

-So I'm going to give this a quick stir around.

So we're going to let this go until it's al dente.

All right.

This has a few more seconds to go before I do want to test it.

But I want to get some of the water out of there.

That super starchy pasta cooking water.

So I'm going to use a ladle.

You can see how starchy it is.

-Oh, yeah.

It's almost yellow.

-Yeah.

-It looks like broth.

-And I'm going to harvest out a cup of that water.

So I'm going to take 2 tablespoons of this pasta cooking water and add it directly to -- this is the 1 1/2 teaspoons of cracked peppercorns from earlier.

-Yeah.

So that's going to help release that pepper flavor.

-Definitely.

-Mm-hmm.

-All right.

So let's check the pasta.

Want half?

-Yeah, sure.

-You get that half.

-Mmm!

Perfect.

Just a hair al dente in the center.

-Is it to your tooth?

-It is to my tooth.

-All right.

It's to my tooth, too.

So I just killed the heat there.

So now I don't want to dump this pasta water because we can use it a little bit later, and I'll show you how.

But I am going to get all this pasta quickly into the bowl with the cracked peppercorns.

-Taking it out with tongs.

-Definitely.

There's a method to my madness.

So now I'm going to add 1/4 cup of that pasta water right in there.

And half of this cheese mixture.

-So this is where the details matter because there's only three ingredients, but you're not adding them all together at the same time.

You've got some of the pepper, some of the cheese, some of the water.

-That's exactly right.

And we're only adding some of the cheese at this point because we want to make sure that this is hot and it really incorporates, emulsifies that cheese paste into the pasta.

And I'm being pretty vigorous about this here, getting a good workout and really releasing the starch from the noodles as well.

So it's about one to two minutes of this stirring.

-Okay.

-What we found was that Pecorino Romano really likes to be in a certain temperature range to melt fully, and that's between 145 to 180.

That's why we took that extra step of hot water earlier.

-Right.

-And then also this step with the hot pasta water going in there and really tossing it.

And it's that time that the protein strands start to unravel and relax and get beautifully creamy like that.

I mean, this is looking gorgeous.

-Yeah.

-All right.

So that looks great.

Now I'm going to add the rest of the pecorino.

Nothing smells as good as Pecorino Romano.

It's just so funky and so delightful and tangy.

-That smells incredible, Bridget.

-Isn't that crazy?

-Yeah.

-All right, I do want to just thin this out a little bit.

And you can use the pasta water for this.

But if it sits too long, it might start to set up.

-And cool down.

-Yes.

Like, you know how it is when you call people to dinner and they can't be found.

-Yep.

-Yes.

So that's why we did not dump that pasta water.

Just want to show you.

-Oh!

You could -- -Just right over that.

Almost like a double boiler.

-Yes.

To help keep it nice and warm and fresh.

-Exactly.

-That's brilliant.

-So you just toss it over that for, like, 30 seconds and it comes right back.

Sounds delicious.

Sounds like it's time to eat.

-Oh, I was hoping you were going to say that.

-Let's pretend we're at a little cafe in Rome.

A little, little trattoria.

This would be a gorgeous first course.

-It would be.

-It's very rich, though.

-Okay.

It's a gorgeous little pile.

-All right.

Now we've got our pepe.

-Mm-hmm.

-Mind if I sprinkle a little bit of pepe?

-Please.

-Let me pepe you up.

This is the rest of the cracked peppercorns.

-Right.

-How about a little extra cacio?

-Oh, yeah.

-Say when.

-I'll never say when.

So you just do what you think is right.

Oh!

Oh!

-Look at that.

Still -- Still so, so creamy.

-It's so creamy.

-Mmm!

The thing I love so much about cacio e pepe is how concentrated the flavor is.

-Yes.

That sauce is so smooth.

Usually you get some clumps here and there.

This is creamy.

And I know it's just two ingredients.

It's just pecorino and black pepper.

But the layers of flavor, you can taste the sheep's milk.

You can taste the aging of the cheese.

You can taste the Tellicherry peppers with the floral notes and the sweet notes.

Mmm!

-So developed that little bit of heat from the black peppercorns.

-Yes, it's not too much.

-No.

And one of the best things about this, you saw how simple it was to make.

-Exactly.

The method is not your traditional boil, drain, add with the sauce.

You have a little bit more to it, but it is easy.

Bridget, thank you for showing me how to make this.

-Any time for you.

-If you want to make the ultimate cacio e pepe, toast and grind whole peppercorns, process grated Pecorino Romano with hot water in a food processor and toss the cooked pasta with the pecorino off heat until it's nice and creamy.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a fantastic and easy recipe for cacio e pepe.

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

-Mmm!

♪♪ -Gnocchi and tortellini are two of my favorite pastas, but it used to be you had to make them yourself or be lucky enough to live near a pasta shop.

That's all changed because every supermarket in America now has good options for both gnocchi and tortellini.

Let me start with gnocchi here.

Store bought is made with potato and flour, just like you would at home.

But I'm recommending that you get the shelf stable.

Avoid the frozen.

They do not cook up nicely.

Pasta should never be frozen and the refrigerated is pretty tricky.

You really need to dry it well if you're going to cook it the way I'm going to suggest.

Yes, you could boil these, but honestly, you should roast or saute them.

They're really sturdy, unlike homemade gnocchi, and they get these lovely crispy exteriors when they are browned.

Now to roast them, put them on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil, put the sauce ingredients on, add cherry tomatoes and garlic, and by the time gnocchi are done, your sauce is ready.

Now, if you want to keep things on the stovetop, put the gnocchi in a big skillet, add some oil, cook them until crispy -- 7 to 10 minutes.

Take them out and then make your sauce in that empty pan using the same oil.

That's super convenient.

Now, when it comes to tortellini, you have some options.

These are shelf stable and I add them directly to a pot of soup.

They'll give off a little bit of starch, but that's actually a good thing.

It'll thicken up the broth.

Now the big guys here, they're refrigerated.

And I would cook these like I would homemade, which means I'm going to cook them in a pot of simmering water.

Note I didn't say boiling.

A lot of times people will boil tortellini and they blow apart the seams.

Don't do that.

When they're tender, drain them and then toss them in something rich.

A butter sauce with a little bit of Parmesan, maybe a tomato cream sauce or some pesto.

Everybody now has access to really high quality gnocchi and tortellini.

They're in your supermarket.

They may be next to the dried pasta.

Bon appetito.

♪♪ -There are many accounts over the origins of pasta alla vodka, but here's my favorite story.

By the late '70s into the '80s, pasta alla vodka was served at discotheques and nightclubs all over the place, and it became known as disco pasta.

Love anything with the word disco in it.

But I'm really excited because Erin's here and she's going to hustle some vibrancy into this dish.

-I certainly am.

And it might sound very easy, but it's not.

This is a very simple dish, but it's easy to get it wrong because it's all about balance.

-It is all about balance.

-Such as life, right?

-Yes, exactly.

-Okay, so let's get started.

I have 2 tablespoons of butter melted in this Dutch oven.

To this I'm going to add 4 ounces of finely chopped pancetta and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

So we're going to cook this over medium heat for about 4 or 5 minutes.

And what we're doing is we're going to render out the fat from the pancetta.

-Yes.

-And we're also going to get it nice and golden brown and crispy, and there's going to be some fine development.

And all that equals flavor.

Pancetta is not always added to this dish, but we're adding it because we wanted a nice kind of pork-meaty undertone to our sauce.

It's subtle, it's not in-your-face, but it just really makes a huge difference.

So meanwhile, I'm going to have you kind of keep an eye on this.

I'm going to come over here and I'm going to move on to my next ingredient.

So we're going to add 2 cloves of garlic.

And I'm going to turn it into a paste.

And the rasp grater is like my go-to.

It's very easy.

Just run it over it.

And the key here is that because this is such a fast dish, we want to coax out as much garlic flavor as possible.

And so the further -- the more you break down the garlic, the more flavor is going to come out.

-It's true.

You're really breaking down the cell walls within the garlic cloves.

So maximum flavor can be released in a really small amount of time.

-Okay, so you can see the difference, Bridget.

The fat is rendered out.

Our pancetta is nice and golden brown and you can see the fonds.

-Yes.

-Okay.

So now we're going to add our garlic.

And this is just going to cook for about 30 seconds.

Stir it in.

And as you can see, it's the paste.

So it just is permeating everything that's in the pot.

-Almost instantly.

-Instantly.

Yep.

-Yes.

-Now I'm going to add the first of two tomato products.

So I'm going to add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

-Okay.

-It's going to add a nice concentrated flavor to our sauce.

So we're just going to cook this for about 30 seconds.

It's going to start to turn like more of a rusty color.

-Yes.

-You know that that's being cooked.

So that's important.

-When it looks like my shirt it's time to go on.

-Did you wear that just in honor?

I love it.

Okay, so now we're going to move on to our next ingredient, the vodka.

So I have 1/2 cup of vodka, but I'm going to take out a tablespoon and we can do shots later.

Just kidding.

Okay, so I took out a tablespoon of vodka.

And now I'm going to add the remaining 7 tablespoons of vodka to our pot.

So I've turned the heat off, Bridget.

That's important so that the initial alcohol that comes off, there's no chance of it igniting.

-Correct.

-We don't want to do that.

So now I'm going to turn the heat back on.

And now we want to cook off that alcohol.

So we're going to cook this down until it evaporates.

Okay.

But that is just part one.

Vodka part one.

So the other thing that I'm going to do is I'm scraping up that lovely fond.

-I have a philosophical question for you.

-Oh, boy.

Lay it on me, Bridget.

-Well, vodka is prized because it is -- it does have flavor, but it's mostly thought of as being very neutral in flavor.

And that's why it's a great mixer.

It's great in so many things.

Why is it so celebrated to be added to a sauce?

-That is a great question, Bridget.

So it's the star of this recipe.

It's the star of this dish.

And it's doing a few different things, but primarily by adding vodka to this, it's really kind of amplifying the flavors of the other ingredients, specifically the tomato, the garlic, the pancetta.

You're really kind of like amping up the volume on those so you can taste them more.

-I love that.

-It's really cool.

-So it's just cranking the volume up to number 11.

-Yes, yes.

And during this step we're cooking off that alcohol.

-Sure.

-We're reducing it down so that it's fully evaporated.

You know that that has happened once the fat starts to kind of sizzle.

-So all the liquid is gone.

-All the liquid's gone.

Correct.

Can you hear it?

-Yes.

We got sizzle.

-We got sizzle.

I can see it.

You can hear it.

Use your senses when you're cooking, right?

-Definitely.

-I love it.

Time to add our second and final tomato product.

2 cups of passata.

-Mm-hmm.

-Passata is a strained tomato puree, and passata is basically raw-strained tomatoes.

So to this we're going to add 1/2 cup of heavy cream.

Heavy cream is going to add richness and it's going to add further silkiness.

A lot of recipes add a lot of heavy cream.

We only needed to add 1/2 cup because we have the richness from the pancetta fat and also the richness from the butter that we started off with.

We're going to add 3/4 of a teaspoon of table salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.

-Okay.

-So now I'm just going to bring this up to a very gentle simmer.

We're going to let that cook for about 10 minutes.

-Okay, great.

-And then comes the pasta.

So we have 4 quarts of water at a boil.

I'm adding a tablespoon of table salt and 1 pound of rigatoni pasta.

-Oh, nice.

-Okay, so we have our 4 quarts of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 pound of pasta.

-The golden formula.

-You know it.

-Yeah.

Well, let's talk a little bit about vodka.

Now vodka in itself has very little flavor.

So how on earth could it ever amplify the other flavors in a tomato sauce?

Well, it all has to do with your olfactory system.

Most of the flavor compounds in our tomato sauce from the tomatoes, garlic, and pancetta are highly volatile, which means we can smell them.

These flavor compounds are also fat soluble.

This means that they dissolve into fats like olive oil or cream.

The only problem is that fat itself isn't volatile.

This means that the flavor molecules get trapped in the sauce and can't evaporate to reach our olfactory system, which is responsible for experiencing flavor.

Enter vodka.

Ethanol can dissolve the same flavor compounds that fat can, but unlike fat, ethanol is highly volatile.

This means that it doesn't trap flavor the same way fat does.

So when you take a bite, the vodka evaporates and takes the flavor compounds with it, bringing them all the way to your olfactory system.

And that's why vodka makes our sauce so much more vibrant.

-All right, Bridget, so our sauce has simmered for about 10 minutes.

Now I have it off the heat and a lid to keep it warm.

And our pasta is ready.

I'm just going to reserve some pasta water.

-Yes.

-This is another life lesson.

Always reserve pasta water.

And turn the heat off and we're going to go strain this beautiful pasta.

-Yes.

-All right.

Okay, so here we have our sauce.

-Beautiful.

-Isn't it gorgeous?

-So it's not bubbling.

You just kept it warm.

-I just kept it warm.

Yep.

-It's gorgeous.

-Not finished yet.

Remember that tablespoon of vodka that I reserved?

-Yes, yes.

-So if I added all the vodka all at once, you wouldn't get any flavor at all.

We are going to add a tablespoon to our finished sauce.

It's going to give us, like, a little whisper of alcohol.

-Yes.

-Like a little like, you know, tingle in the back of your throat.

And it's going to kind of bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes and the sauce.

We want our pasta sauce to be hot.

It's warm, but we want it hot.

So I'm just going to turn the heat on to low and just kind of make sure that it's hot.

-Okay.

-Now I'm going to take the pasta.

We're almost there, Bridget.

-Yes.

-And I'm going to add it to the sauce.

And we're just going to stir it all together.

I'm going to add about 1/4 of a cup of pasta water.

It's starchy water, so we just want to add that to kind of like adjust the consistency.

Right.

-I have a little extra in case if it needs more.

Now I'm going to stir the pasta just for about a minute.

We really want the pasta to be coated.

We want, like, the holes of the rigatoni to kind of, like, get some of the sauce in there.

It's going to be great.

Okay, so that's really nicely coated.

-Yeah.

-Okay.

Would you like to try some?

-I would love to try some.

-Excellent.

This is a big bowl.

I hope you're hungry.

-That's a big bowl.

-Oh, this is delicious.

I think you're gonna love it.

-It smells incredible in here.

And just a few ingredients in there.

-All right.

And to finish it, you get a little bit of Parmesan cheese.

-Fantastic.

-All right.

-This looks fantastic.

Rosy red, but it's that creamy color that is so classic.

Pancetta changes everything.

-Yep.

-Pancetta changes everything.

-And the garlic is standing up to everything because it was graded, and it just is alive and very sharp.

And it really balances with the tomatoes nicely.

And the cream doesn't mute the other flavors.

It just adds nice richness, silkiness, but it allows the other flavors to come through.

-Erin, thank you so much for reviving this classic.

I'll see you at the disco.

-All right.

-Now, if you'd like to make this dish at home, start by adding vodka to sauteed pancetta and garlic, and cook until evaporated.

Stir in passata and heavy cream to create a silky sauce, and finish with more vodka before stirring in cooked rigatoni.

So from "America's Test Kitchen," a vibrant pasta alla vodka.

You can get this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with product reviews and select episodes, and you'll find them all on our website, americastestkitchen.com/TV.

All right, I'm gonna put vodka in everything from now on.

-Oh, yeah.

-Join us inside the test kitchen at americastestkitchen.com, where you can explore our newest season's recipes, learn about top performing kitchen equipment, and master cooking techniques alongside your favorite test cooks.

Visit us at americastestkitchen.com/tv.

-Take your cooking to the next level with this year's edition of America's Test Kitchen Complete TV Cookbook.

Every recipe from all 27 seasons of public television's most watched cooking show is included.

In addition to standout recipes, our cookbook also has equipment recommendations and ingredient reviews.

The cost is $29.99.

That's over 40% off the cover price of $50.

To order, head to americastestkitchen.com/tvbook.

-"America's Test Kitchen" is brought to you by the following.

-Plugrà European-style butter was created for all chefs, cooks, and bakers, slow-churned with 82% butterfat for a smooth texture and more pliability for flaky crusts.

Plugrà -- from professional kitchens to your home.

-GreenPan Frost, the frozen treat maker that makes ice cream, sorbet, slushies, and more, with a built-in chiller that goes from fresh to frozen.

GreenPan Frost.

-On an American Cruise Lines journey along the legendary Mississippi River, travelers can explore Civil War battlefields and historic riverside towns.

Aboard our modern fleet of American riverboats, guests can experience local culture and cuisine while discovering the music and history that define the mighty Mississippi.

American Cruise Lines, proud sponsor of "America's Test Kitchen."

-Smithey Ironware -- polished for performance, naturally nonstick, clear of chemical coatings, made in America, made to be passed down for generations.

Smithey -- Use it well.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪