How to Make Pici Cacio e Pepe (2024)

An iconic dish of the ‘Eternal City’Roma,cacio e pepe or pasta de pepe simply translates to cheese and pepper pasta. While this dish is definitely not as well known as other Roman classics like spaghetti alla carbonara, it is cheesy indulgence at its finest.Cacio e pepe proves you don’t need a long list of elaborate ingredients to create a sauce full of flavour.

The traditional base for this sauce sees the inclusion of justtwo ingredients: black pepper and pecorino Romano cheese. The result is a deceptively simplistic sauce packed with flavour, much like a stripped-back ‘mac n cheese’, but suitably more rustic and Italian in spirit. Cheese lovers, this recipe is for you!

Our authentic cacio e peperecipe

Watch asChef Roberta guides youthrough step-by-step instructions on how to make cacio e pepe. The full recipe is below.

Ingredients

200g of freshly grated pecorino cheese
2 tsp of black peppercorns
400g pasta of your choice (we recommend fresh pici or bucatini)
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and ground black pepper to serve

Method

Toast the peppercorns until fragrant in a dry frying pan over medium heat, about 2 minutes. Keep them moving to prevent them from burning. Once toasted, roughly crush.
Then, cook your choice of pasta in a large pot of generously salted boiling water for around 4-6 minutes, or untilal dente.
While the pasta cooks, add freshly grated pecorino cheese and crushed black peppercorns to a large serving bowl. Gradually add a cup of the boiling cooking water to the bowl, constantly mixing and adjusting as necessary to melt the cheese and obtain a silky, smooth sauce that’s able to completely coat the pasta.
Once your cacio e pepe has become a creamy, silky sauce, add your piping hot pasta to the bowl and toss vigorously to coat.
To serve, finish with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and some more ground black pepper.

Chef’s tip: The critical component in this recipe is the addition of the starchy pastawater; it binds everything together to create a wonderfully creamy emulsion. To ensure maximum starchiness, we recommend adding the pasta water around 1 minute before you’ve finished cooking your pasta.

Which pasta topair with cacio e pepe

The creamy indulgence of this Roman sauce makes it the perfect accompaniment to strand pastas like pici, spaghetti, tonnarelli and bucatini. Pici or bucatini cacio e pepe are our personal favourites and you’ll often find them on our weekly menu due to their thicker and chewier texture which allows you to lap up as much of this glorious sauce as possible.

Cacio e pepe wine pairing recommendation

We’re firmly in white wine territory here, and we’d go for a juicy wine with plenty of acidity to balance out the tangy cheese sauce. Trebbiano d'Abruzzo is a fruity and light wine with bright acidity. It pairs very well with Italian aged cheeses, making it a great match for pecorino pasta dishes like cacio e pepe. The acidity will balance out the creaminess extremely well. For flavours, this wine has white peach, lemon and green apple notes and, on occasion, a slight hint of basil. Open young and serve chilled for a delightful pairing for your cacio e pepe.

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