1tbspblack pepper cornsyou can use more or less based on your taste preference
3litres(¾gal)waterto cook the pasta
2tbspcoarse sea saltto salt the pasta water
1pinchsaltif your vegan cheese is not salty enough
BEFORE YOU START: if your vegan cheese is grated coarsly we recommend to blitz it up in a blender to make it finer, looking like grated parmesan cheese.
In a large pot, put the water to boil. Then on a pan on medium heat, toast the black pepper corns without any liquid. Just the pepper corns. Move them around the pan for about 3 minutes, or until you can smell the pepper aroma.
Then put the in a mortar, and crush them into dust. If you don't have a mortar, put them on your cutting board and crush them applying pressure with the bottom of a pan.
The pasta water should now be boiling. Salt it with the corase sea salt, then put in the pasta and let cook for 4 minutes less than indicated on the pasta package. If the pasta package says 12 minute, then you cook it for 8. We finish cooking the pasta witht the cheese sauce, so that it will release starch in it, making the sauce even creamier.
In a large pan, add the vegan cheese and 2 ladles of the pasta cooking water. Melt the cheese on low heat, stirring quickly with a wooden spoon. After a minute or so, your vegan cheese should be completely melted.
Now add the crushed pepper to the cheese. Keep stirring on low heat for another minute. Then turn off the heat, but keep stirring occasionally, we don't want the cheese to become too dense. If necessay, add an extra dash of pasta cooking water to keep the cheese to a creamy consistency.
When the pasta is ready, take it out of the water and put it in the pan with the cheese sauce. Make sure to save the pasta water, as we need it to finish cooking the pasta.
Add 1 ladle of pasta water to the pan, then on medium to low heat, finish cooking the pasta with the cheese sauce, until the pasta is al dente - that is, cooked but with a bite to it. Add more pasta water if the sauce becomes too thick.
Your pasta should now be completely coated in the cheese sauce, and it's ready to be portioned.
Serve in little swirls on a plate, and drizzle with some extra cheese sauce on top, and a sprinkle of the ground black pepper.