Cacio e pepe, the cheese and pepper pasta

Name: Cacio e pepe, the cheese and pepper pasta
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 200 g spaghetti; 2 l water, to cook the pasta; salt, just a pinch, because the cheese is already salty; 2 tsp black pepper, whole peppercorns, freshly ground; 100 g pecorino romano cheese, finely grated

Spaghetti in a creamy sauce made only of pecorino, black pepper and pasta water: three ingredients and no cream.

Time: 20 min
Difficulty: Easy
Per serving: R$7.90
Servings: 2 servings

Dish photo

Ingredients

for 2 servings

200 gspaghetti
2 lwaterto cook the pasta
saltjust a pinch, because the cheese is already salty
2 tspblack pepperwhole peppercorns, freshly ground
100 gpecorino romano cheesefinely grated
BRAZILIAN SWAP
No pecorino romano cheese?
100 g of very finely grated parmesan; the sauce is milder, less salty and a little sweeter
Parmesan at any supermarket; pecorino is found in cheese shops and large supermarkets
Changes the flavor a little

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Pocket Chef

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The Pocket Chef swaps what is missing and rewrites only the steps that change.

Cacio e pepe means "cheese and pepper" in Roman dialect, and that is exactly it: the cream comes from the cheese and the pasta cooking water, with no cream and no butter. The secret is low heat and vigorous stirring so the cheese does not clump.

Method

1
- Bring the water to a boil in a wide pot, with just a pinch of salt.
- Meanwhile, finely grate the cheese and set aside.
2
- Toast the pepper in a wide, dry skillet over medium heat for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add a ladle of the cooking water and turn off the heat.
3
- Cook the spaghetti 1 minute less than the package says.
- Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta.
Move the spaghetti to the skillet with the pepper, over low heat, and keep stirring with a little of the reserved water for 1 minute.
5
- Off the heat, add the cheese in handfuls, stirring constantly and adding cooking water little by little, until it becomes a smooth, glossy cream.
- Serve immediately, with more pepper.

Tips

The skillet cannot be too hot when the cheese goes in, or it curdles into clumps. If that happens, add a little warm water and stir hard. The cooking water has starch: it is what binds the sauce.

Italy · per serving

Nutrients per serving

Calories

570 kcal

Protein

26 g

18% of kcal

Carbohydrate

81 g

58% of kcal

Fat

15 g

24% of kcal · fiber 4 g

Where the calories come from

protein18%
carbohydrate58%
fat24%

Pick a target per meal to compare the recipe. They are starting points, not individual advice.

By food

Nutrients of each food, per serving
Food	Qty.	kcal	Prot.	Share of calories
spaghetti	100 g	371	10 g	65%
water	1,000 g	0	0 g	0%
black pepper	2.3 g	6	0.3 g	1%
pecorino romano cheese	50 g	194	16 g	34%

Source: TACO (Unicamp), editorial estimate, and USDA FoodData Central. Approximate values. Not medical or nutritional advice.

Cacio e pepe, the cheese and pepper pasta

Ingredients

Adapt it to what you have

Method

Tips

Nutrients per serving

By food

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