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ItalianPasta

Cacio e Pepe

Spaghetti with toasted black pepper and a pecorino sauce emulsified with starchy pasta water.

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Serves
2

Not rated

Ingredients

2 servings
  • 8 ozspaghetti
  • 1–2 tbspblack pepper, freshly ground; use as much as you like
  • Pecorino Romano, finely grated

Method

  1. Step 1: Cook the spaghetti in a shallow, wide pan WITH AS LITTLE WATER AS POSSIBLE. Cook 2 minutes shy of al dente and drain into a strainer, but SAVE THE PASTA WATER.

  2. Step 2: While that cooks, grind the pepper into a sauté pan and toast until fragrant, moving it around so it doesn't burn.

  3. Step 3: After 2 minutes or so, add about ¼ cup of pasta water to the pepper. Careful, it'll sizzle.

  4. Step 4: In a bowl, add hot pasta water to the Pecorino Romano until you get a nice sauce consistency. Do this by feel, little by little. You want to slowly raise the temp of the cheese so it doesn't clump.

  5. Step 5: Add the noodles to the pepper pan along with the cheese sauce. Toss for 2 minutes, adding more pasta water if it's too thick. Try to toss, to aerate and emulsify the sauce.

Version 2 · updated November 15, 2026