While my trendsetting mama first introduced me to cacio e pepe somewhere between 5 and 10 years ago, there’s no denying the cheesy, peppery (cacio = cheese; pepe = pepper) pasta dish is having a moment.
My first time eating it – in the kitchen of my mom’s old house – she swore to me how easy it was to make. “That’s great,” I said, and promptly forgot all about it. Now after rediscovering what’s basically adult mac n’ cheese, I though, hmm, easy you say? I can do this!
Y’all, even with a whopping 5 ingredients, there are a thousand ways for the process to go oh so wrong. BUT, my failures are your wins because I’ve got it down pat now, and will share with you my cacio e pepe secrets!
First, My Favorite Cacio e Pepe Recipe
I’ve tried a half dozen recipes but this one is now my go-to. Mostly because I think the cooking process is best here even if I do make a few modifications.
The Cooking Secrets
Okay, here we go. Number one biggest rule for perfect cacio e pepe – and probably, if you do this any recipe would work – is to grate your own cheese by hand. I know I know, those little parmesan tubs at the store are like 4 bucks and no work at all. It’s so tempting, but just. walk. away. Grab a wedge of parm and a wedge of romano and get going. I mean, really, it takes five minutes to get the amount you need anyway.
Rule number 2, take the recommended pasta water addition and double it. For some reason, every recipe I’ve found shorts the amount of liquid needed for the right consistency. With this in mind, I also bump up the cheese a hair to get it nice and saucy. But that part is totally up to you!
Rule 3, regardless of what recipe you use, toast the pepper IN the oil vs. before adding the oil to your pan. Some recipes have you toast the pepper first, but to me, having it sit in the oil makes the oil itself that much more flavorful.
Final rule is to add the cheese to your butter / oil coated pasta slowly. If you dump it all in at once – or if you ignored rule 1 and used pre-shredded cheese – you’ll wind up with bland pasta and chunks of melted cheese. No good. (But real talk, I still ate it.)
A Note To All the Single Ladies
One final note for all you cooking for one! Cacio e pepe doesn’t reheat particularly well, so I usually half the recipe so I don’t have leftovers that I wind up tossing.
Your Turn!
Have you made cacio e pepe at home yet? If so, what recipe do you like and do you have any secrets to add? If not, give it a try and let me know what you think! Such a great weeknight recipe that takes very little time and very few supplies!
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