Simple Cacio e Pepe Recipe

That is our absolute favourite cacio e pepe recipe. Make this restaurant-worthy pasta with a silky cheese and black pepper sauce in quarter-hour!

Cacio e pepe, which interprets to “cheese and pepper,” is the proper dish for a comfy evening in, and I promise you’ll be amazed by how one thing so easy can style so unbelievably scrumptious. When visiting Rome, Italy, this was Adam’s favourite dish to order. It’s easy, however so good with a velvety, wealthy sauce that isn’t in any respect heavy.

This traditional Roman pasta is the proper weeknight meal! For one more traditional pasta, we additionally love this recipe for pasta carbonara made with egg yolks.

Key Components

• Pasta: For a standard cacio e pepe, you’ll need a hearty, lengthy pasta. Tonnarelli, spaghetti, and bucatini are all nice decisions. (We used bucatini for the photographs on this publish.) Tonnarelli is just like spaghetti however has a sq. form as an alternative of a spherical one. Bucatini is analogous, too, however it has a cylindrical form with a gap down the center, making it good for holding onto the sauce. Quick pasta shapes work, however select one thing that holds onto sauce simply, like rigatoni. For home made, see our recent pasta recipe.
• Pecorino Romano Cheese: This traditional, Italian aged sheep’s milk cheese is a must have for an genuine cacio e pepe. It’s just like Parmigiano-Reggiano however has a sharper, saltier, and extra grassy taste. You may usually discover it proper subsequent to the parmesan within the cheese part. Whereas you should utilize Parmigiano-Reggiano instead, your sauce received’t have the identical traditional, daring taste. Skip pre-grated cheese for this recipe (it received’t soften as properly).
• Black Pepper: The title of the dish actually means “cheese and pepper,” so a beneficiant quantity of black pepper is crucial. For the perfect taste, use freshly floor pepper. A coarser grind works very well, including a little bit of texture and a spicy kick. You can too use a mortar and pestle to crack complete peppercorns.
• Olive Oil and Butter: A small quantity of olive oil and chilly, unsalted butter is the key to a wonderfully emulsified sauce made at dwelling. They assist the cheese and pasta water come collectively right into a silky, shiny sauce and stop it from clumping.

Discover the complete recipe with measurements beneath.

My Ideas for Do-it-yourself Cacio e Pepe

Tip 1: Prep is all the things. Since this recipe goes shortly, you wish to have all the things prepared earlier than you begin. Finely grate your Pecorino Romano, grind your black pepper, and have your chilly butter measured out. As soon as the pasta is cooked, there’s no time for any of this stuff.

Tip 2: Use a large skillet for tossing. Whereas some cacio e pepe recipes recommend utilizing a bowl, we’ve discovered {that a} heat, vast skillet is the perfect device for the job. It offers you loads of room to toss the pasta and sauce elements, similar to we do once we make carbonara.

Tip 3: Construct a base with olive oil, butter, and pasta water. As your pasta cooks, warmth olive oil with floor black pepper till it’s aromatic and scorching. Then flip off the warmth and wait till the pasta is prepared. This step serves two functions: it toasts the black pepper, bringing out extra taste, and it warms the skillet, making it prepared for tossing the pasta and sauce. When the pasta is prepared, add a little bit of the new, starchy pasta water and the chilly butter to the skillet earlier than tossing within the pasta to create the proper base in your sauce.

Tip 4: Finely grate your cheese. That is an important tip! After including your pasta to the skillet, prime it with a beneficiant quantity of finely grated Pecorino Romano. The wonderful grating is crucial as a result of it permits the cheese to soften shortly right into a creamy, emulsified sauce. If the cheese is simply too coarse, it’ll clump and switch right into a sticky mess. A microplane is good for this, however the smallest holes on a field grater can even work.

Tip 5: Don’t be afraid so as to add extra water. The starchy scorching pasta water is what makes cacio e pepe sauce so magical. As you toss the pasta with the cheese, in case you see it clumping or trying too thick (just like the photograph beneath), add one other tablespoon or two of scorching pasta water. Proceed tossing, and also you’ll see the sauce rework, thickening because it completely coats each strand of pasta.

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