Cacio E Pepe

What is Cacio e Pepe?

Cacio e pepe is an inexpensive pasta dish that originated from Rome, Italy. Cacio e pepe translates from Italian to English as “cheese and pepper” which is the basis of the sauce. It is pronounced ‘ca-cho ee peh pay.’ You may think of the texture and taste being reminiscent to alfredo or mac and cheese. When made authentically it only requires pasta (such as spaghetti, bucatini or tonnarelli), Pecorino Romano cheese, cracked black pepper, salt, and the boiled pasta water. The process of preparing it is quite simple:

Pasta is boiled until it starts to soften, just a little over halfway cooked. Then it’s transferred to a skillet with some of the pasta cooking water and there it cooks a bit longer (this two pan cooking approach is to concentrate that starchy water further so it acts as a really great binder). From there a cheese paste is made with the Romano cheese and some pasta water, and that is added to the pasta off heat and tossed to melt.

It’s such an easy recipe that’s a dinner game changer for a quick, light prep dish that will never disappoint. Plus it’s a recipe with maximum flavor built off only 2 basic ingredients – plus salt and pepper. The key here is to follow the method closely. It took me quite some time to perfect this dish and achieve a smooth rich sauce (no clumping!) – especially without the need of adding any oil or butter (which is not authentic). But as written, following all the steps closely, you should be right on your way to success!

Cacio e Pepe Recipe Ingredients

10 oz. bronze cut spaghetti Salt 1 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper, or to taste 4 oz. Pecorino Romano cheese, thinly grated with a rasp grater

How to Make Cacio e Pepe

Tips for the Best Cacio e Pepe

Only use an Italian imported Pecorino Romano, others likely won’t work well here and the flavor will be lacking. Use a rasp style grater to finely grate the cheese so it melts quickly and easily. For best results use a bronze cut spaghetti, this specific type will release more starches which will help bind the sauce and pasta more adequately. Stick with the amount of water listed to cook the pasta. Any more and you’ll drowned it out. You want a smallish amount for a more concentrated starch content. Do not drain the pasta in a colander, you want that pasta water nearby because you’ll use a fair amount of it throughout the process. Use tongs or a pasta ladle to remove it right from the boiling pot of water and transferring to the skillet. Keep to the step of toasting the pepper first for an extra layer of flavor. Use chopsticks or long kitchen tweezers (if you have them) when tossing the pasta in the skillet so pasta doesn’t break so easily. Tongs and other tools don’t work quite as well. Let the pasta cool off heat just slightly before adding the cheese mixture. Otherwise it can overheat and clump up from the overly-hot residual heat of the pan. As it rests it thickens so you can thin with more pasta water as needed.

Possible Variations

Those these aren’t traditional it can be a helpful way to switch things up based on what you have on hand.

Use a different long strand pasta in place of spaghetti such as the bucatini, tonnarelli, linguine, fettuccine, vermicelli, or capellini. Add a cooked protein such as shrimp, chicken, pancetta or bacon. Try it with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in place of Pecorino Romano cheese.

How to Reheat

Of course this dish is best the day it’s made but any extra is still delicious the next day too, the consistency is just thicker. Just rewarm individual servings in the microwave until heated through. Preferably toss halfway through heating.