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Cacio e Pepe

Welcome back! 
Today, we have the first in the series of four Roman pastas: Cacio e Pepe! Cacio e pepe is an amazingly simple yet flavorful pasta that we will use to introduce the common techniques found in these four pastas. The sauce is really just comprised of a few things: black pepper, cheese - specifically Pecorino Romano - and an oil to cook the pepper in. Because of the simplicity, it's important to use good ingredients and not cut corners in order to take it to the next level (instead of just being like a glorified mac and cheese).

Cacio e Pepe

Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces pasta (tonnarelli is traditionally used)
  • 4 tablespoons butter (or olive oil, or even a combination of the two)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (use whole peppercorns)
  • 3 ounces Pecorino Romano, grated
  • Don't forget to save some pasta water! You'll need about 1/2 of a cup.

Directions:

  1. In a pan, toast the the whole black peppercorns. Once the pepper flavor comes out, take this off the heat.
  2. Crush the black pepper, preferably using a mortar and pestle, but not too finely.
  3. Cook the pasta in a pot of water with a teaspoon of salt, per the instructions on the pasta packaging.
  4. When the pasta is about halfway done, heat the butter in the pan and mix in the crushed pepper.
  5. About 2 minutes before the pasta is al dente, transfer the pasta into the pan in order to integrate with the sauce and finish cooking. Also add in about 1/2 cup of pasta water into the pan.
  6. Add the cheese in once the pasta is almost done. Mix this in thoroughly.
  7. Serve and garnish with some more grated pecorino and ground pepper.
The ingredients for this dish are so simple, but you're not so likely to have the specified pasta or cheese laying around. Tonnarelli is a spaghetti-like pasta that is distinguished by its square cut and is more traditional, but it doesn't make too much of a difference to substitute with normal spaghetti. Pecorino Romano is more of a crucial ingredient, being a hard, salty, sheep's cheese. The texture is reminiscent of Parmigiano, but the flavor is very distinct.

-Chefpo
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