Cacio e Pepe Pasta (Printable Version)
Creamy spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and aromatic black pepper, a Roman classic ready in under 30 minutes.
# What You Need:
→ Pasta
01 - 7 oz spaghetti or tonnarelli
→ Cheese & Seasoning
02 - 2.8 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
03 - 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
04 - 1/2 tsp salt for pasta water
→ Cooking Liquid
05 - 4 cups water
# How to Make It:
01 - Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large pot and add salt.
02 - Add spaghetti and cook until al dente, stirring occasionally. Reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water before draining.
03 - Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, toast the black pepper for 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Add 1/2 cup of the reserved hot pasta water to the skillet with the pepper. Let simmer.
05 - In a large mixing bowl, combine grated Pecorino Romano with a few tablespoons of hot pasta water to form a thick paste.
06 - Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet with pepper and toss well. Remove from heat.
07 - Gradually add the cheese paste to the pasta, tossing quickly and adding more reserved pasta water as needed to form a creamy, silky sauce that coats the noodles evenly.
08 - Serve immediately, topped with extra Pecorino Romano and a sprinkle of black pepper.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- You get restaurant quality results with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry
- The sauce comes together in minutes but tastes like you spent hours perfecting it
02 -
- Working quickly when adding the cheese paste prevents it from seizing into tiny grainy balls
- The residual heat from the pasta melts the cheese perfectly, so remove the skillet from heat before combining
03 -
- Grate the cheese using a microplane for the finest texture possible
- Room temperature cheese incorporates more easily than cold cheese