Cacio e Pepe (For One)

Cacio e Pepe means “cheese and pepper” and that my friends, is exactly what this is. Well, cheese, pepper, and pasta. If you’ve ever had this dish in Rome (it is like, the most “signature” pasta dish of Rome) you will know that having it stateside is…..lackluster. They use magic over there, magic that I have yet to locate here in Austin. I make this for myself all the time, just one little (it’s actually huge) bowl of cheeeeesy pasta for one. Feel free to double it up if you want to share!

what you need:

• Spaghetti, angel hair, or bucatini noodles
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, VERY finely grated (you can put it in the food processor or just buy it super super fine) (DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT USE THE SHAKER KIND WITH THE GREEN LID. THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL)
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground cracked pepper
• special equipment needed: tongs

what you need to do:

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
• Add your pasta. Stir it frequently to prevent sticking.

• While the pasta cooks, set a medium/large nonstick pan on low heat on the burner next to the pasta cooking.
• When the pasta is done, using tongs, put the noodles into the nonstick pan you have sitting on low heat.
• DO NOTTTTTT DO NOTTTTT drain the pasta. Keep the water in the pot.
• Move the noodles around in the pan, and add your cheese. Keep moving them around.
• Grab a ladle/cup/bowl whatever you have and add a small splash of pasta water into the noodles and cheese. KEEP STIRRING. Remember that you can add more pasta water as you go, but you can’t remove any, so start very small when adding it.
• Add a bunch of freshly ground pepper (seriously just go to town, it is impossible to add too much) and a sprinkle of salt (do not add too much salt, the parm is SUPER salty and you don’t want to overdo it)
• Keep stirring.
• If the sauce looks a bit too thick or the cheese is still a bit chunky, add in a tiny bit more pasta water. Keep stirring.
• Once your sauce is the perfect consistency, pour it into a bowl and top with freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of parm!
• If you are having trouble with this, head to my Instagram highlights and watch my video!