Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Pecorino Romano sauce
Cacio e pepe pasta: delicious Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Pecorino Romano sauce. You’ll love it and you won’t be able to live without.
Cacio e pepe sauce, literally “cheese and pepper” is one of those legendary recipes that proves you can create an incredible dish with almost nothing. Like pasta carbonara, it’s an integral part of Italian cuisine, and more specifically, Roman cuisine. If you love traditional and easy recipes, you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve already told you, but I’ll say it again: I love pasta. I really do! I could eat it every day… even if I try to moderate myself a little. And I’d been wanting to make these cacio e pepe spaghetti again for a long time, because it had been a while since I’d made them. A simple, quick, and effective recipe. Three or four ingredients, no more. And yet, what a result!
No cream here; the secret to cacio e pepe lies in the emulsion between the pecorino cheese and the pasta cooking water. This emulsion creates a smooth, creamy sauce that perfectly coats the spaghetti. In about twenty minutes, you have a flavorful, rich, and deeply comforting dish. A word of caution: do not reheat the sauce, or the cheese will curdle. And that would be a real shame.
Cacio e Pepe : Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Pecorino Romano sauce
The secrets to preparing perfect cacio e pepe spaghetti
If I can give you one piece of advice: choose quality ingredients. They are rare, so there’s no point in skimping on quality.
- Freshly ground peppercorns, then lightly toasted to release their full aroma.
- Block cheese, grated at the last minute to preserve its freshness, creaminess, and fragrance.
- High-quality Italian long pasta, such as spaghetti or linguine, ideal for coating the sauce.
- A starchy cooking water, essential for achieving the perfect consistency.
The ingredients you do need to prepare homemade cacio e pepe spaghetti:
- Long pasta (bucatini, spaghetti, linguine, etc.)
- A mixture of freshly grated pecorino romano and/or parmesan cheeses
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Coarse salt for the pasta cooking water
Spaghetti with Black Pepper and Pecorino Romano sauce
Ingredients
- 400 g long pasta (bucatini, spaghetti, linguine, etc.)
- 180 g freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 80 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 8 g freshly ground black pepper
- Coarse salt for the pasta cooking water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt generously, then cook the pasta for two minutes less than the "al dente" time indicated on the package.
- Meanwhile, finely grate the cheese into a large bowl. I love using a Microplane grater to grate my cheese; it's very efficient and produces a fine powder.
- In a large saucepan, lightly toast the freshly ground black pepper.
- Drain the pasta, reserving a few ladles of the cooking water.Add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water to the pot with the pepper, then add the pasta. Stir well and cook for another 2 minutes, or until al dente. Add a little more cooking water if needed.
- Pour a small ladleful of the reserved cooking water over the cheese and whisk it in.
- Remove the pasta from the heat, then pour in the pecorino and parmesan cream. Mix immediately by swirling the pan and stirring the pasta to coat it well with the sauce.Do not relight the fire, otherwise the cheese will coagulate.
- Serve the plates with a little more ground black pepper and freshly grated cheese.
