Today, a recipe for a main course: cacio e pepe pasta with pecorino romano cream.
The traditional dishes of Roman cuisine are now known worldwide and appreciated by all. As with all traditional recipes, every family has their foolproof recipe. The one I’m proposing today is the cacio e pepe that was taught to me by a Roman friend, the best I’ve ever tasted!
Few and simple ingredients to make a seemingly simple dish. This dish is often considered just pasta with cheese, but once you taste it, it sends you directly to heaven dreaming! The key is to use quality products, and in this case, an excellent pecorino romano makes the difference.
Cacio e pepe is made with humble and easily available ingredients, but the secret ingredient is time. It is a first course prepared in the time it takes to boil and cook the pasta.
Traditionally, tonnarelli or spaghetti are used as pasta type. I’ve opted for the latter, bronze die-cut, as it’s one of my favorite pasta shapes.
Let’s see together, step by step, how to make this recipe.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Lazio
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Cacio e Pepe
- 14 oz pasta
- 7 oz pecorino romano (aged)
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
Tools
- 1 Scale
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Hand Whisk
Let’s Prepare Cacio e Pepe Together!
The first thing to do is boil the water for cooking the pasta. Once it reaches a boil, add the pasta and lightly salt it.
Meanwhile, take the peppercorns and coarsely grind them; I crushed them several times with the side of a knife. Then, place a nonstick pan on the heat and let it warm slightly. Add the pepper and toast for a minute, then add a generous ladle of pasta cooking water and let it evaporate while stirring.
Drain the pasta three or four minutes before it’s fully cooked, making sure to save the cooking water. Drain the pasta directly into the pan with the pepper and continue cooking, adding a ladle of water, being careful to add more only when the previous one has dried up. Stir with tongs or wooden spoons.
Meanwhile, put the grated pecorino in a bowl and add a ladle of pasta cooking water, then vigorously mix with a hand whisk. We should obtain a cream that is not too soft but more pasty.
When the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat. Add the pecorino cream that you have kept warm on the pasta water pot and stir with the spoons or tongs. If it turns out too thick, you can add a little pasta cooking water; on the contrary, if it’s too runny, you can add some grated pecorino.
A Curly Suggests
For the successful preparation of cacio e pepe pasta, it’s important that the pecorino cream is prepared at the last moment; otherwise, it tends to solidify.
