Go for the pasta at Casoni – stay for the cacio e pepe donuts. Heading up the Italian eatery in Darlinghurst is Alex Lynn who wanted to give Casoni’s signature pumpkin ravioli a run for its money.
Cacio e pepe, meaning cheese and pepper in Italian, hails from Rome and is purely made with three ingredients: plenty of Pecorino Romano, pepper, and pasta.
A fan of the cacio e pepe flavour profile with a love for gougères, Lynn originally set out to make cacio e pepe gougères. “Then due to my kitchen being smaller than your bathroom, the gougères became donuts and the dish was born – which seems fitting as I do believe limited space and budget breeds more creativity,” Lynn said.
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A ton of of Pecorino Romano DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta or “Protected Designation of Origin”), Antico Molino Caputo flour from Naples, and toasted cracked black pepper are the heroes of these beauties.
They’re fried until golden brown and crowned with a final flourish of Pecorino Romano and pepper. The result is an intensely cheesy donut with a super smooth interior.
If that’s not indulgent enough, over winter the donuts can be pimped up with fresh black truffles – it doesn’t get much better.
Find it here: Casoni, 371-373 Bourke St, Darlinghurst, Sydney.