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Cacio e Pepe

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Makes 4 servings 1x

Time 30 minutes

In How to Cook Everything Fast, recipe directions are separated into “prep” and “cook.” Here, we’ve made that distinction with italics for prep-work and plain text for cooking. This reflects the most efficient order and timing of tasks.

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • Salt
  • 8 ounces pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese (2 cups grated), plus more for serving
  • 1 pound spaghetti or other long pasta
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper, or more to taste

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it (see headnote).
  2. Grate 2 cups pecorino Romano or Parmesan.
  3. When the water boils, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally. Start tasting after 5 minutes. When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it, reserving about 3 cups cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and put over low heat.
  4. Add the cheese, 1 tablespoon pepper, and enough cooking water to make it saucy (you may need only a cup or so). Toss, taste, and adjust the seasoning, then serve.

— Recipe from How to Cook Everything Fast

Recipe variations

Buttery Cacio e Pepe For an even richer version, add 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened, to the final dish.

Sort-of Alfredo Omit the black pepper. Use Parmesan cheese instead of the pecorino if you like, for a milder taste. In Step 3, before adding any pasta water, add 1 cup cream and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg when you add the cheese. Let the cream coat the pasta and heat until steamy, then add pasta cooking water a little at a time until it’s as saucy as you like.

Pasta with Mascarpone and Red Pepper Sweet meets heat. Use 1 cup mascarpone cheese instead of the pecorino and a pinch of red chile flakes instead of the black pepper.