Easy Cacio e Pepe Recipe | Julie Blanner (2024)

FAQs

How do I make sure Cacio e Pepe doesn't clump? ›

Use the best imported Pecorino Romano that you can afford. Grate cheese yourself. Freshly-grated Pecorino Romano is a MUST in this Cacio e Pepe recipe. If you use pre-grated cheese, your sauce will by clumpy.

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.

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.

Cheese– Aged Pecorino Romano is a MUST when making Cacio e Pepe. It is made from sheep's milk and has a strong and tangy flavor. I also use Parmesan cheese because I like the flavor of the two cheeses together. If you want to use ALL Pecorino Romano, you can, but personally I like the mix of both cheeses.

Pasta starch is key to creating a silky smooth Cacio e Pepe sauce. Indeed, while pasta cooks, it releases starch into the cooking water. This starchy water helps with melting the cheese, emulsifying the sauce, and binding the black pepper to the pasta.

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.

- 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).

Parmesan can step in for Pecorino, but keep in mind that it won't have the same salty, tangy flavors as Pecorino, so you may need to adjust seasoning accordingly.

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.

What does Cacio e Pepe mean in english? ›

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.

Pasta Cacio e Pepe

This iconic pasta is a minimalist recipe — flavored with just butter, salt, cracked pepper, and Pecorino cheese. It's perfect for a quick, unfussy supper.

Cacio e pepe is made by emulsifying pasta water with grated cheese and black pepper. It clumps so easily. Alfredo has an image problem. Americans think of it as pasta draped in a cream sauce made of heavy cream and cheese, but the original version is thinner and creamy from an emulsion of butter and grated cheese.

The aging period for Pecorino Romano is much shorter than Parmigiano-Reggiano at around five to eight months. Like Parmigiano, Romano is a hard cheese. But Pecorino Romano is white in color and has a slightly saltier and much stronger, more piquant flavor.

It has a very rich and strong flavor due to the Pecorino Romano sharp cheese as well as the heavy amount of pepper. Warning: some might find this dish spicy.

The trick is to toss the cheese with starch before heating it. As the starch heats up and gels, it stabilizes the cheese so it won't break. I tried the method for this Cacio e Pepe, which makes for a durable sauce that doesn't break even after raising the temperature until the sauce boils (usually a mortal sin).

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.

Adding an acid such as a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice or white wine and whisking like the Hounds of Hell are snapping at your fingers may emulsify the fat molecules back into the sauce while detangling the protein molecules that have merrily clumped into unappetizing grainy clusters.

Generously salt the pasta water

It can help keep the starches in your pasta from gelling together, reducing the risk of your pasta sticking. Aim to put a tablespoon or two of salt for every quart of water—which is about a quarter or half cup of salt for a pound of pasta.