Cacio e Pepe Recipe: Quick, Easy and Delicious

Cooking Bucatini Cacio e Pepe


Cacio e pepe is a simple dish to construct but a tricky dish to master. Once you get it right, our preparation will be a lazy weeknight favorite.

The first step is to grate cheese. When we say grate cheese, we mean grate a lot of cheese. To really get the impact of the Pecorino Romano, we recommend grating about 3/4 of cup with a little extra for serving.

Grated Pecorino Romano and Grater for Cacio e Pepe
For this recipe, we grate our Pecorino Romano on the smallest diamond setting of a grater. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Boil four to five cups of water in saucepan or wide skillet. We recommend a skillet with a handle. The handle will make it easier for you to use tongs to grab the pasta later.

Place the pasta in the pot. Because of the small amount of water used to boil the pasta, you may have to bend it to fit the pasta in the pan if you’re using a narrower width pan. Follow the cooking time recommended on the pasta box. We use a small amount of water to create an ideal water to starch ratio.

Cooking Bucatini for Cacio e Pepe
If you choose to use a narrower width saucepan to boil your pasta, you’ll need to bend it to make sure that it’s entirely submerged in the boiling water. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

About three to four minutes before the pasta is done, place a separate wide frying pan over a medium fire. This will heat the pan so you can finish the pasta and sauce.

Bucatini in Pot
We like to cook our pasta for cacio e pepe in a sauce pan with a small quantity of water.  | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Before removing the pasta, pour three to four ladlefuls of pasta water into the pan you’re going to use to finish the pasta. If you choose to use a colander, you’ll want to reserve about two cups of the pasta water.

Cacio e Pepe Pasta Water
We pour 3 to 4 ladlefuls of pasta water into a heated pan before adding our pasta. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Using tongs, move the bucatini to the frying pan with the reserved pasta water. Stir the pasta water through the pasta until it begins to thicken.

Prepping Bucatini Cacio e PepeIMG_0250
The pasta needs to be mixed with the pasta water until the water gets starchy and thick. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Once the pasta water has thickened (it should be slightly pale white), remove the frying pan from the heat and wait about 20 seconds. You’ll want to be sure that the pasta is off the burner or the cheese will coagulate and separate from the pasta water.

Gradually add the Pecorino Romano to the pasta. The cheese should blend with the pasta water and become thick and creamy.

Pouring Cheese into Bucatini Cacio e Pepe
You’ll need to take the pan off the heat before adding the Pecorino Romano. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Add black pepper to taste. We like to grind the pepper from a large pepper mill.

If you choose to pre-grind your black pepper, you’ll need about one to two teaspoons of cracked black pepper.

Pepper on Bucatini Cacio e Pepe
We like to grind black pepper in the last step before finishing our cacio e pepe pasta. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The goal is to see visible flecks of pepper on every strand of pasta.

Cooking Bucatini Cacio e Pepe
Mixing pasta with black pepper and Pecorino Romano makes a beautiful pasta dish. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

After serving the pasta in medium pasta bowls, the final step is to pour wine. We like to drink Italian wine when we eat cacio e pepe pasta at home.



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