Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe Recipe | Easy, FOOLPROOF, Authentic | PIATTO RECIPES Italian Cooking

pecorino cheese

💰Cheaper: parmesan cheese

Parmesan is more widely available and less expensive than pecorino.

Start by freshly grinding black pepper using a mortar and pestle or an adjustable pepper grinder until you have a mix of medium coarse and fine pepper.

Cook the pasta in two phases: first, boil the spaghetti halfway in a pot with 2 cups of water for every 4 ounces of pasta.

While the pasta is boiling, toast the ground pepper in a skillet over very low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute, being careful not to burn it.

Add three ladles of the pasta water to the skillet with the toasted pepper and simmer over very low heat to infuse the water with the pepper flavor.

Once the pasta is halfway cooked, transfer it to the skillet with the pepper-infused water.

Add one to two more ladles of pasta water to the skillet and continue cooking the pasta until al dente, saving the remaining pasta water for later.

Prepare the pecorino cream by mixing 7 ounces of grated pecorino cheese with 3.5 ounces of warm pasta water to create a thick paste, ensuring the water is not too hot to avoid clumps.

When the pasta is al dente, remove the skillet from heat and let it cool for about a minute before adding the pecorino paste.

Using tongs, vigorously mix the cheese paste with the pasta until a creamy sauce forms that coats each strand of spaghetti.

Finish with a sprinkle of fresh pecorino and black pepper, and serve immediately.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

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