I've been craving an authentic cacio e pepe recipe ever since I moved back from Italy. So, I wanted to share my one-pot, foolproof cacio e pepe recipe with exactly three ingredients (no butter!) and needs all of twenty minutes.
Psst, this recipe is a throwback to my friendship with folks at a small restaurant in my neighborhood - the same place Anthony Bourdain loved. So you know it's time tested and delicious.
The post contains helpful tips and tricks to make sure you're successful in your first attempt. But if you're in a rush, please use the link above to jump to the recipe card at the end!
🍲What is cacio e pepe?
Cacio e pepe literally means "cheese and pepper" in Italian (cacio, in the local dialect, literally refers to pecorino Romano, i.e. the pecorino of Rome). This is a simple Roman pasta (there's a tale that peasants invented this because they had no meat, but here we are). Move over, fettuccine Alfredo, the classic cheesy pasta is in town.
💭 Why you'll love this recipe
- Inspired by Anthony Bourdain's favorite cacio e pepe in Rome: This is a recipe I first learned to make when I lived in Rome, from Anthony Bourdain's favorite restaurant.
- Uses only three ingredients: Traditional and authentic cacio e pepe does not use butter or cream. True to that, this recipe uses just three ingredients.
- Comes together in under 30 minutes: This recipe is as quick as it's delicious, so it's perfect for a quick weeknight meal or your next date night!
📋 Ingredients & Substitutions
You need three ingredients for this authentic Roman pasta: pasta, pecorino, and pepper. I know it's hard to get the exact ingredients sometimes, so I've listed a few substitutions. But this recipe is made without butter, so read on!
What kinds of pasta can you use?
Traditionally, tonnarelli or bucatini. But, any thick pasta or spaghetti can work in a pinch too. The key is to get a tubular, long pasta to which the sauce can adhere to. Traditional tonnarelli is a little coarse, making it super delicious when you add cheese.
What kinds of cheese do you need?
The only cheese you'll need is pecorino Romano, the cheese native to that region. Try to get the sharpest pecorino Romano you can get your hands on and grate it fresh. If you can't find pecorino, especially vegetarian pecorino, you can use parmesan (but just note that the flavors will be slightly different since pecorino is sharper)
Do you use cream?
Only if you want my old Italian landlord to haunt you from his grave ... just kidding. But, seriously though - no cream or butter! Take the pasta water out when it's starchiest, i.e. right before you're going to drain it. That's all you need to bind the pepper and cheese into gooey, saucy goodness. Using cream dilutes the sharpness of the cheese and it's also not necessary!
♨️Step by Step Instructions
Cook the pasta to package direction
Make sure to use a gallon of water for every 16 oz (box) of pasta. Cook the pasta in that large pot of salted water to package instructions. 2 to 3 minutes before the pasta is done, remove a few tablespoons of hot pasta water in case you need to thin the sauce.
Create the magical cheese sauce
Throw the cheese, pepper and some cold water in a food processor and pulse until it gets to a silky consistency. Or, just use a fork or a whisk, and mix vigorously to combine until the sauce is smooth and silky. Add hot pasta water after to smooth out further into a creamy sauce.
Fold the sauce into pasta, one layer at a time
Then, once you have that magical cheese sauce, slowly layer it and the pasta like you would a lasagna. One serving of pasta, one spoon of sauce. Rinse repeat. Then toss and coat evenly. Voila! No more clumpy pasta.
👩🏽🍳Tips for authentic, foolproof cacio e pepe
- Use high quality cheese and grate it yourself . Get the best cheese you can afford, you won't regret it, and grate it yourself. Grated cheese often has potato starch or chemicals added to it, which makes it clump up and not melt. And you'll want to use the smallest hole for grating - it'll allow the cheese to melt uniformly into a consistent sauce!
- Use the right amount of water and drain at the right time. I typically don't have pasta water volumes, but the key to this recipe is thinning the cheese with the starchy pasta water. So, ensuring the right amount of starch to water is important. Use a gallon of water per package of pasta and reserve the pasta water 2 minutes before indicated al dente time (for instance, if package says 10 minutes, reserve water at 8 min mark)
- If mixing by hand, whisk, whisk, whisk - the cheese will melt. The process is fairly seamless with a food processor, but if you're mixing by hand, just keep whisking. Add cold water slowly to the grated cheese as you whisk (vs. adding it all at once). I suggest couple of tablespoons at a time. The cheese will appear clumpy at first but don't fret! The magic happens when you thin the sauce with hot water.
FAQs
This recipe does not use any butter or oil and that typically runs the risk of the cheese getting clumpy. The secret to avoiding that? Whisking or mixing it vigorously to ensure it forms a sauce.
Traditional recipes use only pecorino, but you can use parmigiana in a bind (or combine the two). Romano is a hard cheese and Italian Romano is named Pecorino.
Make sure to read the post above, but you basically ensure the right water to pasta ratio while cooking it, set aside pasta water with starch 2 minutes before that's done, whisk some Pecorino with cold water and then hot water to make a sauce, and layer in the sauce.
This is a personal choice! I don't like to overpower the dish with pepper so I use 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper. You can increase the quantity or toast the pepper before adding it to the sauce in order to amplify the flavors!
🍷 Storage & serving suggestions
This recipe can easily be scaled down on the recipe card, and where possible, I suggest making it fresh. However, if you made extra, you can just store in the fridge, portioned out. Then, add a splash of water to the portion, and microwave for 1 minute, stirring once in between.
You can serve the cacio e pepe as a side to any meaty dishes if you have a carnivore in the family, or serve this as a main "primi" with a side salad (like my Brussels sprouts Caesar salad or my kale salad with pecorino and pepitas). It pairs quite neatly with a ton of stuff, but try to sneak in a glass of wine if you can - because nothing pairs better!
Personal Note: I didn't know when I lived in Rome that this was Anthony Bourdain’s favorite bowl of cacio e pepe. In fact, he loved the place so much that he wanted to keep it a secret. Small mom & pop restaurants would get flooded with positive reviews, grow an admirable following, but crumble under pressure. That said, I’m glad to report that this restaurant is still going strong, and the cacio e pepe is delectable. If you're heading to Rome and want to know, leave me a comment!
Don't forget to check out some of my other pasta recipes:
If you try this recipe, please consider leaving a comment and a star rating. Don't forget to tag #urbanfarmie on Instagram or @urbanfarmie on Pinterest!
📖 Recipe
Authentic Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients
- 8 oz bucatini pasta, see substitutions in post
- 2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground and coarse
- ¼ cup water, reserved from cooking pasta
- 1 cup pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated and divided, 3 tbsp for garnish
Instructions
- Bring half a gallon of water to boil (roughly 1.85 liters, i.e. 7-8 cups of water) and add pasta in - cook the pasta to direction (typically about 8 to 10 minutes for al dente texture)
- As pasta cooks, grate cheese using the smallest hole on your grater
- Add the cheese and pepper to a food processor along with a tbsp of cold water and pulse until forms a "lumpy" mixture (or use a fork)
- If you don't have a food processor, add about 2 tbsp of cold water at a time to the cheese and whisk using a fork or whisk until cheese becomes saucy
- With 2-3 mins remaining (so ~5 minutes after putting pasta in), remove 2-3 tablespoons of pasta water.
- Drain the pasta and add cheese paste - make sure to coat evenly (one trick here is to add a portion of the pasta, and then a tbsp of the paste, mix, and then repeat - check post for detailed visuals)
- Before adding the final layer of pasta, mix the reserved pasta water with the cheese paste and use this to coat the pasta
- Serve hot with a grind of coarse black pepper and a sprinkle of pecorino
Notes
- Use the right amount of water - the key for making the sauce perfect is getting the optimal starch content in the pasta water. So, you need to measure your water!
- Use a long, thick and hollow pasta if possible - long pasta helps coat the cheese sauce evenly and keeps it delicious!
- One optional step is to toast the pepper before you add it to the cheese - this can help bring out the flavors even more
- Once you add the cheese, if the pasta feels like it's clumpy, you can add some of the water you reserved to make sure that the pasta is coated evenly
Nutrition
Note: This recipe was originally published on 27 January 2020. It was updated on 18 April 2021 with new FAQs and tips!
A longtime cacio e pepe fanatic, I can wholeheartedly say that this recipe was the total package: flavorful, light, and the pepper and cheese worked together nicely - no one flavor overpowered my tastebuds. So many times you find cacio e pepe recipes that claim to be authentic but have runny sauces that are just too creamy. This one was perfect. And best of all, the recipe was simple and straightforward.
Thank you Jordan! Super happy you liked the recipe!