Cacio e Pepe
Rome's greatest pasta — three ingredients, infinite technique
Three ingredients. Pasta, Pecorino Romano, black pepper. Cacio e Pepe is the most deceptively simple dish in Italian cooking and the one that exposes every shortcut. Get it right and it is extraordinary. Get it wrong and you have clumpy cheese pasta. Here is how to get it right.
Ingredients
- 200g tonnarelli or thick spaghetti
- 80g Pecorino Romano, very finely grated (plus extra)
- 20g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
- 2 tsp whole black peppercorns, coarsely cracked
- Salt for pasta water (less than usual)
Method
- 1
Toast the pepper
Toast cracked black pepper in a dry wide pan over medium heat for 60 seconds until fragrant. Remove half and set aside. Leave the rest in the pan.
- 2
Cook the pasta
Cook pasta in lightly salted water (less salt than usual — the cheese is salty). Reserve at least 200ml of starchy pasta water before draining.
- 3
Make the cheese paste
Mix grated Pecorino and Parmigiano with 2–3 tbsp of warm (not hot) pasta water. Whisk into a smooth, thick paste. This step is critical — if the water is too hot, the cheese will seize.
- 4
Combine
Add a ladleful of pasta water to the pan with the pepper. Add drained pasta. Toss vigorously over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add cheese paste and toss rapidly, adding pasta water a splash at a time until you have a glossy, creamy sauce that coats every strand.
- 5
Serve
Plate immediately. Finish with reserved toasted pepper and a little extra Pecorino. Eat at once.
How I Love to Serve It
The enemy of Cacio e Pepe is heat. The cheese sauce must never touch a hot pan directly. Off-heat, rapid tossing with starchy water is the technique. Practice it twice and you will have it for life.