Best Cacio e Pepe Recipe

Cacio e pepe pasta in white dinner bowl with cheese grater in the background.

5 from 10 votes

With just 4 ingredients and 30 minutes, I have the secret trick to making the creamiest cacio e pepe - one of the four classic Roman pastas you shouldn't miss!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Author: Grace Vallo

Equipment

Large pot

Ingredients

1 pound orecchiette pasta
2 cups Parmigiano-Reggiano fresh, fine-grated
1 ½ teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper plus more to garnish
¼ teaspoon salt
4 quarts water

Instructions

Prepare all ingredients ahead of time!
Bring 4 quarts of water (not more) to a boil. Add the salt. Add pasta and cook for about 30 seconds less than the boil time for al dente.
With 3 minutes left of the pasta cooking time, in a separate large pot (not pan), add the black pepper. Toast the pepper in the dry pot for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until fragrant.
Reserve 1 ½ cups of the pasta water right before the pasta is done cooking.
Add 1 cup of the pasta water to the pot with the pepper.
Add drained pasta. Vigorously mix pasta into the peppery water for 1 minute over medium heat.
In a bowl, combine cheese and ½ cup pasta water until it’s as smooth as possible, to create a cheese “cream”.
Add half of the cheese cream to the pasta. Vigorously mix until combined over medium heat.
Add the rest of the cheese cream to the pasta over medium heat. Vigorously mix again, until it is creamy and uniform. You really want to put some muscle into it!
Serve right away, garnished with more black pepper and cheese.

Video

Notes

I highly recommend using orecchiette instead of the classic, spaghetti. Whirling around the orecchiette in a big pot with the cheese and pasta water mixture creates this deliciously creamy sauce. I've tried with spaghetti and you can't mix it as vigorously. Also, the delicious sauce gets "stuck" in those little orecchiette ears! Yum!
I highly recommend using parmigiano-reggiano only, which creates a creamier sauce than pecorino. Pecorino creates a stickier sauce.
You’ll need to reserve 1 ½ cups pasta water.
Don’t add more salt to the pasta water. Too much salt can impact the creaminess of the sauce. Remember the cheeses added saltiness too!
Use a large pot, not a pan, so you can really whirl around the pasta. Vigorous stirring is the only way to create the creamy sauce.
Serve right away. Cacio e pepe is best enjoyed right after it’s prepared when the sauce is creamy and the pasta is al dente. Once the pasta cools, the sauce will start to coagulate.

Nutrition