Cacio e Pepe
A Roman classic, made with just three ingredients (four if you count the pasta water): sheep’s milk cheese, black pepper and pasta.
Ingredients
- 400 grams spaghetti
- 250 grams Pecorino Romano/cacio DOP (NOT pecorino fresco, stagionato or semi-stagionato)
- 2 Tbsp whole black peppercorns
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water.
- While the pasta is cooking, finely grate the cheese.
- Freshly grind the pepper with a pepper mill that will give you big pieces or smash with the back of your knife.
- For authentic Roman cacio e pepe, toast the smashed black pepper or medium low heat in a saute pan, about 2 minutes until you start to smell a strong aroma.
- Slowly add pasta water into the cheese until a cream is formed. The moment you see a cream-like consistency stop immediately or the mixture might curdle.
- When the pasta tests al dente drain well.
- Add the al dente pasta directly into the sauce to coat.
- Add more grated cacio and the toasted ground black pepper, don’t hold back!
Notes
- Serve immediately and eat quickly because creamy pasta like this tends to clump together when it cools off
- If the pasta seems a bit too dry it is because you need to add just a bit more of the pasta water.
- To achieve the cremina or cream-like cheese sauce you need to balance the right amount of cheese and pasta water. There is no ratio because every cheese will react differently, depending on how long it was aged, what the sheep ate, etc.
- Some swear by this secret rule: finish cooking the pasta over low heat in a pan allowing the last bit of starches out of the pasts which helps bind the sauce to the pasta.
- A real cacio e pepe does not include oil, cream or butter. It’s all about getting the right ratio of cheese to pasta water for perfectly creamy sauce.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!