Yet another Italian pasta classic, the cacio e pepe. Funnily, it’s also one of those easy-to-do meals but if you don’t know what you are doing you will end up with a nightmare.
Cacio e pepe literally translates to cheese and pepper. 2 simple ingredients to compliment your pasta. Whatever you do please do not make it with cream!
It’s a super creamy dish that gets some kicks from the grounded pepper.
Buon appetito
You need ( per person)
- freshly black pepper
- 100g spaghetti
- ~20g freshly grated pecorino cheese
- water
- 1tbsp salt
Instruction
- Put some water in a pan; about 3 cups. You don’t want to put too much water as you want to concentrate the amount of starch in the water. Once it boils, add the salt & pasta. Check packaging instructions to know how long you need to cook them al dente. If it says 10 minutes, cook them for 9, we will complete the cooking in the pan.
- Crack some black pepper in a pan. Turn heat on low-medium to gently toast the pepper. Make sure you don’t burn it
- After 2 minutes of toasting the pepper, add about a ladle of pasta water. If needed increase the heat a little to get it simmering
- Once the pasta timer is up, transfer them to the pan with the pepper. Add 1 -2 ladle of pasta water to complete the cooking. Stir
- In a bowl, put the pecorino cheese and add about a quarter of a ladle of pasta water. You want to make a thick paste. Don’t make it soggy! Add some more water or cheese to correct the consistency
- Turn the heat off* and transfer the cheese paste into it and stir . As you stir , the cheese will bind with the remaining pasta water and form a thick cream. Stir stir stir. If you are about to , toss the pasta in the pan.
*If you don’t turn the heat off, you will melt the cheese and it will make strands instead of forming this beautiful creamy sauce - Serve. Optionally add some more pecorino and black pepper to it
