Cacio e Pepe

Easy and authentic Cacio e Pepe! Made with just 3 ingredients including pasta, Romano cheese and black pepper. It's such a humble yet impressive dish with unmistakably delicious flavor!

What is Cacio e Pepe?

Cacio e pepe is an inexpensive pasta dish that originated from Rome, Italy. Cacio e pepe translates from Italian to English as "cheese and pepper" which is the basis of the sauce.

It is pronounced 'ca-cho ee peh pay.' You may think of the texture and taste being reminiscent to alfredo or mac and cheese.

When made authentically it only requires pasta (such as spaghetti, bucatini or tonnarelli), Pecorino Romano cheese, cracked black pepper, salt, and the boiled pasta water.

The process of preparing it is quite simple:

• Pasta is boiled until it starts to soften, just a little over halfway cooked.
• Then it's transferred to a skillet with some of the pasta cooking water and there it cooks a bit longer (this two pan cooking approach is to concentrate that starchy water further so it acts as a really great binder).
• From there a cheese paste is made with the Romano cheese and some pasta water, and that is added to the pasta off heat and tossed to melt.

It's such an easy recipe that's a dinner game changer for a quick, light prep dish that will never disappoint. Plus it's a recipe with maximum flavor built off only 2 basic ingredients - plus salt and pepper.

The key here is to follow the method closely. It took me quite some time to perfect this dish and achieve a smooth rich sauce (no clumping!) - especially without the need of adding any oil or butter (which is not authentic).

But as written, following all the steps closely, you should be right on your way to success!

from Cooking Classy