Spaghetti cacio & pepe
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Serves:
Level:
2
Easy
Category:
Vegetarian
About the Recipe
Spaghetti cacio e pepe is one of Rome's four classic pastas. Just spaghetti, Pecorino Romano, black pepper, and a little butter. No cream. The sauce is built from the starch in the pasta water, the heat, and the cheese. The pasta is cooked one or two minutes short of done, then finished in a pan of toasted pepper, stock and butter. The cheese is added off the heat while you stir constantly, which creates an emulsion that coats every strand. Simple, direct, and entirely about technique and timing. This is how Romans cook.
Ingredients
· 200g spaghetti pasta
· 250ml chicken or vegetable stock (water is also fine)
· 85g grated Parmesan cheese
· 85g grated Pecorino Romano cheese
· 30g butter
· Freshly ground black pepper
· Salt
Preparation
· Drop the pasta into boiling, lightly salted water. Stir the pasta every three to four minutes to prevent it sticking together.
· Toast a generous amount of cracked pepper in a large pan over medium heat for about twenty seconds. Add the stock and butter and cook for two to three minutes.
· Strain the pasta one or two minutes before its actual cooking time is finished. Reserve a small amount of the cooking liquid. Transfer the pasta to the pan with the pepper and stock.
· Increase the heat and stir the pasta around while the sauce starts to thicken.
· Once most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce thickens slightly, remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese while you continue to stir constantly. This creates an emulsion that coats the pasta. If the sauce becomes too sticky, add some of the reserved cooking liquid to loosen it.
· Add a final touch of cracked pepper, transfer to a pasta bowl and serve immediately.