Cacio e Pepe
Just pasta, black pepper, and two grated cheeses, emulsified with starchy water into a sauce that clings without a drop of cream.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Written
Method
-
Toast the black pepper in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute, then remove from the heat.
-
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until just shy of al dente.
-
Ladle out 2 cups of the starchy pasta water before draining, then drain the pasta.
-
Whisk the Pecorino and Parmesan with a splash of the hot pasta water in a wide bowl until it forms a loose, clump-free paste.
-
Return the skillet with the pepper to low heat, add a ladle of pasta water, and add the drained pasta.
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Toss in the cheese paste a spoonful at a time, adding more pasta water as needed, until the sauce turns glossy and coats every strand.
-
Serve immediately, since the sauce tightens fast as it cools.
Notes
The whole dish lives or dies on temperature: cheese added off heat or into water that’s too hot seizes into clumps instead of melting into a sauce, so keep the skillet on low and add the Pecorino gradually. Whisking it first into a paste with a little pasta water is the insurance policy — it’s much harder to break a paste than to melt cheese straight into a hot pan.
No Pecorino Romano on hand is not a good excuse to skip this — a sharp aged Parmesan alone will work, though the sauce loses some of its tang.