Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe – the mother of all Roman pastas

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 300g spaghetti
• 200 g Pecorino (Romano)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 ½ liters of water
• Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 25 minutes

Boil water and add salt. I specified 2.5 liters, so 500 ml less than the rule of thumb of 1 liter per 100 g of pasta, but with a bit of practice, 2 liters will work even better. Why? The water should retain as much starch from the pasta as possible. This helps create the creamy sauce later. Since you use quite a lot of cooking water for the sauce, be careful with the salt. Please pay close attention to the cooking time on the package and ideally set your clock. Put a large pan on the heat and heat it up. Crush the pepper either in a mortar and pestle or grind it in a mill and add it to the pan. Toast the pepper in the pan, but under no circumstances should it burn. So be very careful. You can smell it very well when the pepper has received enough heat. Then simply add a cup of pasta water to the pan so the pepper doesn’t burn and the water absorbs the flavor. Finely grate the pecorino and place it in a small bowl. Now add a few tablespoons of the hot pasta water to the bowl with the pecorino and stir the pecorino into a smooth cream. Important: Be careful with the amount of water here. Only use enough to create a cream. If in doubt, use a tablespoon less. As soon as the pasta has 3 minutes left, add another ladleful of pasta water to the pan and then use spaghetti tongs to lift the spaghetti from the pot into the pan. If you want, you can also drain the pasta, but remove some of the pasta water first. Don’t worry if the spaghetti now floats in the pan. The water will evaporate. The pasta cooks in the pan for the remaining 3 minutes with minimal liquid, similar to a risotto. The technique is actually called “risottare.” This allows the flavors to infuse the pasta. Add the stirred pecorino. The starch from the spaghetti, the pasta water, and the pecorino to create a sauce. Always add just enough water to allow the pasta to finish cooking, but only enough to ensure the sauce has the perfect consistency once the pasta is fully cooked. Unfortunately, it’s not an exact science; you need a bit of practice and a feel for it. Lots of stirring and tossing helps to get the sauce’s consistency perfect. As soon as the pasta is cooked, plate the spaghetti, sprinkle more pecorino over it, and if you like, add a bit of pepper. This dish only uses pecorino and pasta, as water, pepper, and salt are usually not included. So pay particular attention to the quality of the pasta. If you’re not sure, just choose the pasta that takes longer to cook. It’s best to use the thickest spaghetti possible, e.g. spaghettoni, bucatini, or perciatelli. Not spaghettini, which are too thin. Alternatively, use rigatoni or paccheri. Note: Cacio e pepe is the mother of all Roman pasta. Once you’ve mastered this recipe, you’ll have mastered the basics of Roman pasta classics: Cacio e Pepe + Guanciale (pork cheek bacon) becomes alla Gricia + Guanciale, and tomato becomes all’ Amatriciana + Guanciale, and egg becomes Carbonara, plus lemon and Parmesan becomes Spaghetti al Limone. Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana, and Carbonara form the so-called “trinity of Roman pasta.” These dishes will teach you how to create creamy sauces with pasta and why virtually all pasta dishes are cream-free.