Looking for an impressive pasta dish with minimal ingredients and no fancy kitchen skills? Look no further.
Cacio e Pepe is a traditional Roman dish served on every single corner of Rome. It sounds way fancier than it really is. In English, this translates to cheese and pepper pasta which is just about all you're going to find in the ingredients list.
Cacio e Pepe is clearly full of carbs, just the way I like my meals.
The fun (and easy) thing about this dish is you can use just about any shape of noodle and the cheesy sauce will stick wonderfully. Long, skinny noodles are traditional (I think, I don't know, I wasn't there), but use whatever you have!
The first time I ever had this dish was at a restaurant in Scottsdale called Fat Ox and they served it with a short noodle just to really reassure you on your noodle choice!
The key to making a great, saucy Cacio e Pepe is using the pasta water to melt the freshly grated cheese.
One of my favorite pasta tips when you want to “loosen up” the sauce is the put the noodles directly from the boiling water into the sauce.
Reserve a cup of pasta water. Working quickly, pour all the cheese(s) directly onto the noodles and combine well. Add in ¼ cup of the pasta water at a time, slowly to help melt the cheese.
Top with additional grated parmesan and freshly cracked black pepper and you’re done!
Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients:
1 pound of your favorite pasta
6 T. butter
2 T. freshly cracked black pepper
¾ C. freshly grated Pecorino Romano
½ C. freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt
*you can use your favorite Italian cheeses.
Directions:
1. Salt pasta water, and cook until 1 minute under al dente directions on the box.
2. In a large saucepan, heat 6 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add cracked blacked pepper and stir well. Reduce heat to medium.
3. Add cooked pasta directly from boiling water into the butter & pepper. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
4. Add all cheese on top of noodles, add ¼ cup of reserved pasta water at a time to help melt cheeses, and stir to combine.
5. Serve with additional freshly grated cheese and cracked black pepper on top.
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