For this week’s recipe, we decided to share with you an authentic Cacio e Pepe recipe. Literally “cheese and pepper”, this Roman dish only takes three ingredients – cheese, black pepper, and pasta.
Despite having only 3 ingredients and being easy to make there are some things that you need to consider if you want to nail this recipe. The cheese should be freshly-grated pecorino Romano, a salty sheep’s milk cheese. The black pepper should be freshly cracked and plentiful so you can taste its heat and fruitiness. And in terms of the pasta, spaghetti, bucatini, or tonnarelli are all traditional choices.
You can find some recipes that use butter, cream, or olive oil, but if you want to try the authentic recipe you should stay away from these ingredients.
320 g (11 oz ) spaghetti
180 to 200 g (3 to 3 1/2 cups) pecorino romano cheese, very finely grated
7 g (2 teaspoons) freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt