Cacio e Pepe
Most of the time, life can be very busy and prepping a nice homemade meal can be a challenge! When this occurs, we all reach for those 30-minute recipes. Without compromising on flavor, they’re very convenient and usually budget-friendly 💰.
Pasta dishes fall under this category. Many takes less than half-an-hour ⏰ to make. I think of Shrimp Fra Diavolo, Spaghetti alla Carbonara or Aglio e Olio, Penne alla Vodka, and many others as well as this one Cacio e Pepe!
This delicious classic is the perfect weeknight meal to have or when time is in short supply. With only 5️⃣ ingredients, this simple recipe is so tasty especially if you enjoy cheeses and peppercorns as much as I do.
Cacio e Peppe which translates to “cheese 🧀 and pepper” is ideal when I don’t want to be in front of the stove too long. Although easy to make, there’s some technical points to follow so you can achieve a nice, creamy sauce without it turning into a clumpy mess.
First, the noodles are cooked until almost done in a large shallow skillet on low boil. With just enough water 💦 to cover the spaghetti, this increases the amount of starch. Also, very little salt is added to the low volume of water. The reason is we’ll be using the pasta water to make the sauce.
While the pasta is gently boiling, the freshly ground peppercorns are sautéed on low heat for just a couple of minutes ⏳ enough to wake up the fragrance. I always use “mixed” peppercorns. You can use only black if you want but the mixed ones have added layers of flavor instead of just one note.
From there, the heat is slightly increased to medium-low and a couple ladles of pasta water is added to the peppercorns to prevent them from burning 🔥. When the noodles are almost done, they’re transferred to the peppercorn mixture while a ¼ cup of pasta water is set aside to cool off for the cheeses later.
To finish cooking the noodles, there’s more pasta water from the pan where they initially cooked that is added to the skillet – a couple ladles at a time. That’s the reason why we go easy on the salt 🧂 when boiling the noodles. By the way, the heat is on medium-low and don’t worry, it will cook.
The spaghetti is tossed until it absorbs all the water. It’s basically like making risotto – we add hot liquid, stirring 🥄 constantly which helps the pasta release its starch. We repeat this water addition and tossing until it’s done then we’ll turn off the heat to allow it to cool for 2 to 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, we’ll add a little bit of that ¼ cup cooled reserved pasta water to the cheeses that we blended together, stir, add more, and continue until it forms a paste. According to my friends 👩🦰👱♀️👩🦱, this method is not as friendly as it sounds so here’s another way of doing this step…
Simply put the cheeses in the jar of a blender and keep adding cooled pasta water until it turns into a creamy texture. You might add more than a ¼ cup of pasta water so reserve about ½ cup. This is probably the safest way of making 👩🍳👨🍳 it without risking the sauce turning into a clumpy mess.
Back to the spaghetti…
If using the blender method, pour over the pasta, stir to coat and serve. The first method is to add the paste and stir until the mixture gets creamy. This is the tricky part… it can get gummy as it refuses to melt. The solution is to add a little bit more pasta water 💧 while stirring.
Cacio e Pepe is a traditional Roman dish! With only 5 ingredients, it’s a meal that comes together quickly. Its simplicity with its bold flavors makes this recipe a perfect weeknight meal or when time 🕢 is in short supply.
Bon Appétit! 🍽
Check out these other great pasta recipes… 😀
– Zucchini Pork Penne
– Pasta Primavera
– Meat Manicotti
– Orzo with Chicken & Asiago
– Fettuccine alle Vongole – Clam Fettuccine
– Ultimate 8 Cheese Vegetable Lasagna
– Italian Stuffed Pasta Shells
– Creamy Shrimp Linguine
– Creamy Tortellini Boscaiola
and for even more pasta recipes 🍝, click on this link… Recipe Category • Pasta & Pizza
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Cacio e Pepe
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Ingredients
- 10 ounces uncooked spaghetti (substitute bucatini) see Recipe
- 1/2 tsp. ground Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tbsp. freshly ground mixed peppercorns, plus more for serving
- 1 cup Grana Padano cheese, grated
- 1 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
Directions
- In a large shallow skillet, bring water to a boil and add a couple pinches of salt. Add spaghetti, making sure there’s just enough water to cover the pasta. While maintaining a low boil, cook until almost done, gently toss it around occasionally.
- In another large skillet on low heat, add ground mixed peppercorns and cook for 2 minutes, shaking the pan often.
- Stir in a couple ladles of pasta water to the peppercorns to prevent from burning and increase the heat to medium-low.
- In a small bowl, combine Grana Padano and Pecorino cheese. Stir to blend and set aside.
- When the pasta is almost cooked, transfer to the peppercorn mixture and stir to coat; reserve a ¼ cup pasta water for the cheese later.
- To finish the spaghetti, add a couple ladles of pasta water from the skillet where the noodles were initially cooked and toss. When the liquid is all absorbed, add more (it’s the same technique as cooking risotto). Repeat until pasta is done.
- Turn off the heat and let the noodles sit for a few minutes to cool off.
- Meanwhile, add the reserved pasta water to the cheeses, a little at a time, and stir until the mixture resembles a paste. Another way of doing it is to add the cheeses to the jar of a blender and keep adding cooled pasta water until the mixture turns into a creamy mixture.
- Add cheese paste to the spaghetti and stir until it gets creamy – add a touch more water if needed. If using the blender method, simply pour, stir and serve.
- Serve immediately, add extra grated cheese and season with more black pepper.
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I’ll try your blender method. Thank you chef