Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe (Cheese and Pepper) Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

Why cacio e pepe is so hard to perfectly execute? ›

But it is extremely hard to execute well because you need to control the heat. The cheese will become stringy if you heat up your pan too much (above 70 °C or 158 °F). I tested all the methods, so you do not need to! Cacio e Pepe is rare in restaurants because it is hard to serve warm without the corn starch trick.

Traditionally, cacio e pepe (pronounced: kaa-chee-ow ee peh-pay) is made with just three ingredients: aged pecorino Romano cheese, freshly ground black pepper, and pasta, usually spaghetti; plus the starchy water from cooking the noodles. You don't have to go to Rome to enjoy cacio e pepe.

Cacio e pepe is traditionally made from black pepper, aged Pecorino Romano cheese, spaghetti or tonnarelli pasta, and, most importantly, pasta cooking water. Authentic cacio e pepe does not include butter or oil, but we're willing to break a few rules for flavor.

That said, as simple as the cacio e pepe ingredient list may be, this dish is famously finicky when it comes to technique. If the cheese is overheated or the starchy pasta water isn't emulsified properly, the sauce can turn into a sticky, clumpy mess, which I can vouch from experience is always such a tragedy.

1. Pick a curved pasta shape that'll grab hold of the sauce. Customarily, Cacio e Pepe is made with hand-made tonnarelli pasta, which is about double the thickness of classic spaghetti.

Spaghetti: Cacio e Pepe is traditionally made with some kind of long pasta (noodle); I like to use spaghetti but I've also seen it with bucatini, linguine, fettuccine, and even tagliatelle. You can use either dry or fresh pasta.

- Add a little more pasta water than you think you need (the pasta will continue to soak it up and the sauce will thicken on your plate).

Elbow grease. The creaminess of Italian pasta dishes is usually the result of stirring. Add your pasta to the sauce or condiment - cacio e pepe in your case - with some of the water the pasta boiled in. Stir as you never stirred before and the result will be creamy.

Classic versions call for just pasta, salted water, freshly ground pepper, and Pecorino Romano, a Roman sheep's milk cheese. Ours tosses a bit of Grana Padano or Parmesan into the mix for a more rounded cheese flavor that melds warmth, nuttiness, and sharpness.

What meat to serve with Cacio e Pepe? ›

The best side dishes to serve with Cacio e Pepe are turkey meatballs, Caprese salad, shrimp scampi, grilled red snapper, grilled mushrooms, avocado salad, cornbread, Parmesan crusted walleye, chicken wings, beef tenderloin, garlic bread, bruschetta, sauteed spinach, Italian sausage, and roasted vegetables.

Cacio e pepe literally translates to “cheese and pepper." These two ingredients are usually thought of as small components to a dish but in this pasta recipe, they take center stage.

Cacio e Pepe Variations

Pecorino Romano is a hard, Italian sheep's milk cheese. It has sharp, rich nutty flavor, making it the perfect cheese for this simple pasta dish. If you don't have it or can't find it Parmigiano-Reggiano is a totally acceptable alternative.

Ingredients. Water, pecorino romano cheese (sheep's milk, sea salt, animal rennet), sunflower seed oil, modified cornstarch, ground black pepper, sodium citrate, xanthan gum, sea salt.

The water in the pot where the pasta boils must be very shallow (ie. a lot less than normal). This helps to make the pasta water extra starchy, which is very important in an authentic cacio e pepe recipe. Since there are so few ingredients in this dish, using fresh peppercorns and grinding them up is important.

This dish is supposed to be heavy on the pepper, but if you don't like a strong peppery flavor or if you are serving to kids who are sensitive to pepper, you can reduce the amount. See the recipe notes. Cheese– Aged Pecorino Romano is a MUST when making Cacio e Pepe.

Add pepper and cook ('bloom'), until fragrant and toasted. Use tongs to pull pasta into the pan (this way you are reserving all the pasta water), then add ½ cup pasta water. Using a wooden spoon, stir the pasta, using the pasta as a whisk to emulsify the butter and pasta water into a sauce.