Cacio e pepe

Summary

An easy recipe for 4 servings. It takes about 31 minutes to make. Each serving has about 494 kcal. It is nut-free and sugar-free.

The Roman classic with just three ingredients: pasta, pecorino and black pepper, brought together with the pasta water into a smooth, peppery cream. We explain the trick to stop the cheese going lumpy.

Notes

Cacio means cheese in the dialect of Rome and Lazio, and here it is always pecorino romano, an aged, salty sheep's cheese. With so few ingredients, the usual failure is clumping: the proteins in pecorino tighten above about 65 °C, squeeze out the fat and turn into sticky strings. There are three ways to avoid it: grate the cheese very finely and at room temperature, turn it into a paste first with warm (not boiling) pasta water, and add it off the heat once the pan has rested for half a minute. Starch helps too, which is why the pasta is cooked in little water. If the sauce splits, add a tablespoon of cold water and toss hard; it can sometimes be rescued. Some cooks add a knob of butter or a splash of oil to the pan as insurance; it isn't traditional, but it works. The classic pasta is tonnarelli, though thick spaghetti or bucatini are very good. Pecorino is very salty, so go easy on the salt in the water. It is made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian version use an aged sheep's cheese made with vegetable rennet. Eat it straight away: reheated, it loses its creaminess.