Bella Vista

As you all know I love to hunt down some unique foods. I have seen this pasta made in a humungous cheese round and have been waiting for someone in our area to offer it on their menu. Well, my wish came true! Bella Villa serves a version of this called Cacio n Pepe which is their 100% Italian grain pasta served al dente in a creamy sauce with black pepper tossed tableside in their signature cheese wheel. It was everything I expected and more! And as a bonus, I didn’t have to travel to Italy to get it! The pasta was so rich and velvety absorbing the nutty taste of the cheese along with just the right amount of cracked black pepper. It is great by itself or you can add a protein, the garlicsauteed spicy shrimp adds even more flavor if you love shrimp like I do!

Cacio e Pepe is a pasta dish from the cuisine of the city of Rome. Cacio e Pepe means "cheese and pepper" in several central Italian dialects. All the ingredients kept well for a long time, which made the dish practical for shepherds without fixed abodes to be able to feed themselves and their families.

Fun fact:

The Cheese wheel pasta (a.k.a. pasta alla ruota) is a style of pasta that is made tableside by mixing freshly cooked spaghetti, linguini, or any other type of pasta in a hollowed cheese wheel, most commonly parmigiano reggiano. A layer of cheese is scraped inside the wheel so it melts when the hot pasta is mixed in by hand. Sometimes, the cheese is flambéed (i.e. lit on fire with a splash of alcohol like vodka or brandy) to induce melting. This variation made in a flaming wheel of cheese is appropriately called “flaming cheese wheel pasta”.