When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When not in Rome…still do as the Romans do, because the Romans know how to DO IT. While not as well-known in the U.S., cacio e pepe pasta is one of the most iconic traditional Roman dishes, beautiful in its simplicity.
When I dig into a bowl of this, I’m immediately transported back to a night in Rome sitting in a cozy little trattoria with a glass of local red, with the moon bright and the noise of people chatting and Vespas zooming by outside.
It takes just a few simple ingredients, a couple pretty simple techniques, and about 15 minutes to make cacio e pepe, but the result is pure magic. I used Samin Nosrat’s recipe, because I like her simple description of the technique, and I’ve provided step-by-step photos below.
The star of this dish is the pecorino romano cheese, a hard, salty sheep’s milk cheese that’s native to Italy and has a very distinctive flavor. It shouldn’t be too hard to find, the fancy Murray’s cheese counter in my Midwestern Kroger has it.
A couple tips to make your cacio e pepe spectacular:
- I do STRONGLY recommend you get your hands on a real pecorino romano cheese…it is THE flavor in this dish, and any substitute just won’t be the same. It will be delicious, I’m sure, but not cacio e pepe. The cheese counter at my big Kroger has it (Murray’s).
- Additionally, you could consider more like a mixture of 70% pecorino and 30% parmesan (note, separate cheeses, but using some of both)
- The finer you grate your cheese, the better. I used two different tools…the first time I used my microplane zester/grater, which gives amazing fluffy cheese that’s perfect. But it takes longer and is a bit more difficult, so when making a full batch I used my cheese hand mill grater on the tiny setting, which was still awesome.
- Get your cheese grated ahead of time, because things move very quickly once you start.
- Don’t forget to reserve the pasta water before draining! I recommend waiting until the pasta has been cooking at least 5 minutes, to get it starchy enough.
- The first time I did this, I didn’t use a big enough skillet and it was super hard to toss everything together and get the pasta coated, so use the biggest you have. Also, long pasta is much easier to toss and coat than short pasta. Long pasta is more traditional in this dish.
My photos here are actually a compilation of a few different times I’ve made it…mostly because I was a dummy and when I made it with the buccatini (long) noodles which are more traditional, I totally forgot I was halving the recipe. So I added way too much pasta water and the sauce you see in the photos isn’t thick enough. Still 10/10 for flavor though…
Now let’s just look at this dreamy, fluffy pile of cheese again, shall we???
Set a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Season generously with salt (in Samin’s words, “until it tastes like the summer sea”).
Add the pasta to the boiling (now salty) water and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente (usually 5-6 minutes).
Get your cheese all grated ahead of time so it’s ready to use.
Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water (you probably won’t use all of it), then drain the pasta.
Once the pasta has been cooking a couple minutes, heat a large skillet or wide pan over medium heat, and add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom.
When the oil shimmers, add the fresh-ground pepper and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds.
Add 3/4 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water into the pan and let it boil…this will encourage an emulsion to form. A splatter guard can be helpful to keep it from getting all over your stove or burning you.
Once it’s emulsified, add the drained pasta to the hot pan and toss to coat the noodles. Tongs are good if you have long pasta, two spoons if short pasta.
Then sprinkle in all but a handful of the cheese and vigorously toss the pasta, adding more pasta water as needed to create a creamy sauce that clings to the pasta without clumping. Taste and adjust salt as needed (remember, it’s a VERY salty cheese).
Serve your cacio e pepe immediately and garnish with the remaining cheese and more coarsely ground pepper.
This is actually what the sauce thickness should look like, however. I had a brain glitch and forgot that I was halving the recipe when I made it with long pasta, and I’ve been trying out a new pasta made with heritage wheat to see if it helps my body feel better about carbs.
So this is the thickness you’re looking for.
DREAMY.
Seriously, 15 minutes! I don’t think people realize how easy cacio e pepe is, or they’d make it more. I recommend looking at the photo above (not this one, but the one above that) to see what the thickness of the sauce should be. And see my tips at the top for making it amazing.
One note on pasta…the first time I made this with radiatore pasta (a short one with lots of ridges to catch sauce). It worked fine, but is harder to toss and really get coated, so I do recommend using long pasta like a buccatini, which is traditional. However I prefer to *eat* a short pasta. So go with your heart.
From Samin Nosrat’s cookbook (via The Kitchn)
Other amazing pasta dishes you’ll love:
- Authentic Ligurian Trofie Pasta by Hand (with Fresh Pesto)
- Pasta with Roasted Peppers, Chicken Sausage & Goat Cheese
- Garlicky Farfalle with Marinated Feta & Arugula
- Baked Pasta with Broccolini, Kale, Sausage, & Cheese
- This cacio e pepe would make an amazing Leftover Pasta Frittata too
Here are the amounts if you only want to make a half portion of this recipe (for 1-2 people it’s perfect).
- Salt (for the pasta water)
- 8 ounces of dried spaghetti, bucatini, or tonnarelli pasta (see notes)
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon very coarsely ground black pepper
- A little over 1/3 cup of reserved pasta water + extra in case (grab 1/2 cup to be safe)
- 2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, very finely grated (about 1 cup)
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Traditional Cacio e Pepe Pasta
How to make a traditional cacio e pepe pasta, with only a few ingredients and a few techniques...you will fall in love with this amazing comforting Roman pasta recipe!
Ingredients
- Salt (for the pasta water)
- 1 pound dried spaghetti, bucatini, or tonnarelli pasta (see notes)
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (very coarsely) fresh-ground black pepper
- 4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, very finely grated (about 2 cups)
Instructions
- Set a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Season generously with salt (in Samin's words, "until it tastes like the summer sea").
- Add the pasta to the boiling (now salty) water and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente (usually 5-6 minutes).
- Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water (you probably won't use all of it), then drain the pasta.
- Once the pasta has been cooking a couple minutes, heat a large skillet or wide pan over medium heat, and add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom.
- When the oil shimmers, add the fresh-ground pepper and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds.
- Add 3/4 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water into the pan and let it boil...this will encourage an emulsion to form. A splatter guard can be helpful to keep it from getting all over your stove or burning you.
- Once it's emulsified, add the drained pasta to the hot pan and toss to coat the noodles. Tongs are good if you have long pasta, two spoons if short pasta.
- Then sprinkle in all but a handful of the cheese and vigorously toss the pasta, adding more pasta water as needed to create a creamy sauce that clings to the pasta without clumping. Taste and adjust salt as needed (remember, it's a VERY salty cheese).
- Serve immediately and garnish with the remaining cheese and more coarsely ground pepper.
Notes
See notes in the recipe post on how to make your cacio e pepe the best possible.
The first time I made this with radiatore pasta (a short one with lots of ridges to catch sauce).Β It worked fine, but is harder to toss and really get coated, so I do recommend using long pasta like a buccatini, which is traditional.Β However I prefer to *eat* a short pasta.Β So go with your heart.
You can consider more like a 70% pecorino/30% parmesan mix as well
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