Cacio e Pepe

Name: Cacio e Pepe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 400 g tonnarelli or spaghetti; 200 g pecorino romano, finely grated; 2 tsp black peppercorns; Salt, for the water

Local name: Cacio e pepe

Three ingredients and a glossy pecorino cream bound with starchy pasta water, peppered right to the edge.

Published on 5 April 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

#pasta#pecorino#pepper#roman#quick

AI-generated image, not a photograph of the dish

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 20 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Method

Crush the peppercorns coarsely in a mortar, then toast them in a dry frying pan for 1 minute until fragrant.
Cook the pasta in lightly salted water, using deliberately less water than usual so it becomes properly starchy.
Ladle two spoonfuls of pasta water onto the hot pepper and let it bubble into a peppery broth.
In a bowl, work the grated pecorino with a few spoonfuls of warm, never boiling, pasta water into a smooth paste.
Drain the pasta a minute early and finish cooking it in the pan with the peppery broth.
Off the heat, stir in the pecorino cream vigorously, loosening with more water a little at a time until the sauce coats and shines. Serve at once.

Pecorino seizes the instant it meets fierce heat, and that is the whole difficulty. Build the cream off the heat, in a pan that is merely warm, and it turns silky.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

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Quick recipes

Frequently asked questions

Can I use parmesan instead of pecorino romano?

The dish changes name and character, since pecorino brings a saltiness and a sheepy edge that parmesan lacks. That said, parmesan is more forgiving of heat: half pecorino and half parmesan is a common compromise for a first attempt.

Why cook the pasta in little water and little salt?

Two separate reasons. Less water gives far starchier cooking liquid, and it is that starch which binds the sauce and stops it splitting. Less salt, because 200 g of pecorino romano already brings plenty: normally salted water would make the dish inedible.

My sauce went lumpy. Can I rescue it?

It depends how far it went. If the cheese has merely thickened into a paste, a little warm water and vigorous whisking off the heat can smooth it out. If it has seized into elastic strands against a scorching pan, nothing will help: the proteins have tightened irreversibly.

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