This summer David and I are headed to Italy, the boot-shaped land of classical art, gelato, Sophia Loren, and Cacio e Pepe.
Cacio e Pepe is a quintessential Italian pasta dish, literally “cheese and pepper.” With just a handful of ingredients, it’s super basic, yet deceptively difficult to get right. Mishandled, it can easily go gloppy, the cheese congealing into chunks instead of melting into a luscious sauce. But when done right? It’s transcendent.
This is a GREAT weeknight dinner. So easy to throw together. When I first came across this recipe, I thought it looked kind of bland on paper, sort of a child’s plain-pasta-with-butter type dish. And then I tried it, and wow. There’s true genius behind this particular way of combining of butter, pepper, and cheese with water and pasta. How it transforms into a voluptuous, utterly flavorful and comforting meal, I can’t really explain. It’s Italian cooking sorcery. Delicious, addictive sorcery.
So there’s a lot of pepper, yeah. Go with it. The heat isn’t overwhelming, and plays really well with the buttery, cheesy creaminess of the sauce.
You can use any type of pasta you like for this dish (it’s traditionally made with linguine or spaghetti), but I like bucatini, which is like a thick spaghetti with a tiny hole running down the middle. It catches extra sauce inside. Nothing wrong with that.
You might be skeptical, as was I, that the amount of sauce created by the butter and pepper will be enough to coat the pasta. That’s where the pasta water comes in. It serves double duty by providing volume as well as starch, which helps the sauce thicken as it cooks.
There is a little cheat in this recipe. Traditionally, Cacio e Pepe is made with pecorino romano, a hard, sharp, flavorful cheese. I had a ridiculously hard time finding it in the high country, though, so I used what looked best in our local grocery cheese case: a pre-shredded “Tuscan” blend of parmesan and fontina. The parm provides a nice sharp flavor, while the fontina imparts a mildly nutty flavor and extra creaminess.
The cheat is not in the types of cheeses used, but in the fact that they’re pre-shredded. Pre-shredded cheeses are almost always tossed with some sort of starch (in this case, potato starch) to keep the bits from sticking together . Normally I’d turn my nose up at that (cheese snob, guilty), but here the starch actually helps bolster the sauce and keeps the cheese from separating. Plus, not having to grate fresh cheese saves time. Win win.
Though purists would say further embellishments are sacrilege, I like adding a fresh pop of flavor in the form of green peas and the earthy, summery fragrance of basil. You can add other vegetables or herbs as you like – or leave them out completely.
I have a feeling that later this summer after finally tasting this dish in the mother country, I will maybe regret posting my Americanized version. But you know what? When I mention I’m thinking of making it for dinner, both my guys’ eyes light up. And isn’t that the best any mama could ask for?
Cacio e Pepe with Peas and Fresh Basil
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 6 generous servings 1x
Description
Behold Cacio e Pepe, the “Italian mac n’ cheese” that’s lighter, more elegant, and just as addictive cousin as its American counterpart.
Ingredients
1 lb strand pasta, such as linguine or bucatini
4 TB salted butter, divided
1 TB freshly ground coarse black pepper
1 1/3 c pre-shredded cheese (I use a blend of parmesan and fontina)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Add plenty of salt (I use 2 TB for a large potful) and the pasta, cooking until the pasta is almost, but not quite, al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.
When the pasta is almost done, heat a large skillet over medium flame. Melt 2 TB butter and add the freshly ground pepper, cooking until it is lightly toasted, about a minute. Splash in about 1/4 cup of the pasta water and the remaining 2 TB of butter and continue to cook the sauce until it begins to thicken slightly, another minute or so.
Drain the pasta and add it immediately to the sauce, along with the grated cheese. Working quickly, toss the pasta and sauce with tongs until the cheese is melted and the sauce coats the pasta uniformly (if it seems too dry, add a bit more pasta water). Remove pan from the burner and stir in the peas, which will cook quickly from the residual heat. Sprinkle the basil over the pasta and toss once more.
Serve immediately in warm bowls, topping with a little more cheese and chopped basil.
This looks AMAZING but I just hafta admit, I think I might like congealed cheese. It’s still cheese, right?
Well, yeah. Good point. 🙂