1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to serveBring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the noodles and blanch them for about 30-60 seconds, stirring with chopsticks to separate the strands. Drain immediately, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water.
Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the black pepper and stir for 20–30 seconds, until fragrant and toasted. Pour in about half the reserved cooking water, then add the noodles, miso and remaining butter. Turn off the heat, then add half the pecorino and season with a little sea salt. Toss the noodles until the cheese melts and the noodles are well coated .
Why tinker with perfection? Cacio e pepe IS perfection!
another, perhaps more readily available umami source is the rind of the cheese. Put it in a pan with some of the pasta water and cracked pepper. swirl it around a bit, add a little more p-water then toss in the noodles and sling. remove the rind before servicing.