Cacio e Pepe
This traditional Cacio e Pepe recipe takes only 20 minutes, with 6 easy ingredients. For more flavor, don’t hesitate to sauté 2 chopped garlic cloves in butter with black pepper.
Ingrédients
- 8 ounces of pasta (I recommend the spaghetti or linguini)
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked fresh black pepper
- 1 1/3 cups grated * Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (or a mixture)
- pinch Salt
- 2 leaf of basilic to parfum(to taste) to garnish
Instructions
- Cook pasta in boiling water with plenty of salt according to package directions, until just tender. (Again, I want to stress that it is important that the water in your pasta is well salted as this will help flavor the sauce as well as the pasta itself. I also recommend cooking the pasta in less. water than normal, so that the water is extra starch.)
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and cook for 1 minute. Then, remove about 1/2 cup of boiling water from the starchy pasta and slowly add it to the melted butter mixture. (Be careful, it will explode vigorously when added.) Whisk until well blended.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let stand for at least 3 minutes. Gradually add cheese and beat until blended.
- Once the pasta is ready to use, set aside an additional 1/2 cup of starchy pasta water and set aside. Completely filter your pasta and let stand 2 to 3 minutes to cool it down a bit. Then add about half of your pasta to the sauce, apply it, add the remaining pasta and toss until completely combined, adding a little water from the reserved pasta if necessary if the sauce starts to stick. seem dry. Test and season with additional salt, if necessary, and toss to combine.
- Serve hot, garnished with cheese and additional pepper.
Notes
- Pasta: Noodles are traditional for this dish, but any form of pasta will really work. We usually use bucatini, spaghetti or linguine.
- Pecorino or Parmesan: A good aged Pecorino cheese is also traditional in cacio e pepe. But we often make ours with Parmesan (or a mixture of the two) when we don't have pecorino on hand. Important note about cheese, however, you must use freshly grated cheese for this dish. Items pre-grated in the chilled section (or in that infamous green pot) won't melt well in this sauce, and instead, they'll all be lumpy and weird. Believe me. Freshly grated for wine.
- The grated cream cheese in this recipe is a must-have. If you use pre-grated cheese, it won't melt well in this cheese sauce. So take a block of cheese and a grater, and you should have enough time for this to happen while the pasta water comes to a boil.