Cacio e Pepe
Cheese and pepper. That is all. A three-minute emulsification required to cook this sauce separates the masters from the novices.
One of Rome's four sacred pastas, Cacio e Pepe is the shepherd's dish of the Lazio hills, just cheese, pepper, and the pasta water that brings it together.
Only a few ingredients
Black Pepper
Coarsely ground, pieces, not powder. Dry pan, medium heat, just until you can smell it. Two minutes. Don't go far.
fresh & toastedPasta Water
A ladle of starchy pasta water into the toasted pepper. This is where the base forms. Let it reduce slightly before anything else goes in.
Pecorino Romano
Grated very fine. This is not optional. Off the heat entirely. Add it gradually and toss. If the pan is too hot it will clump and there's no going back.
not ParmigianoEgg yolk
Some cooks add a yolk for extra richness. Beat it into a little pasta water first, then in off the heat. Purists leave it out. Both are correct.
Optional for more creaminessIt has only two ingredients. Then three with pasta water.
Cacio e Pepe requires no cream, no oil, no garlic, no onion. The sauce is an emulsion created by combining warm pasta water with grated cheese and pepper off the heat. The technique is gentle and deliberate. The pasta is tossed slowly until it thickens. This is not a shortcut; this is the requirement.
Spaghetti
The traditional choice, though any long pasta works.
Tonnarelli
Thicker than spaghetti, square in cross-section. A Roman specialty.
Ready to cook?
These sources we trust. Each one makes it correctly.
Other sauces from the same region
Carbonara
A Roman dish built on patience and restraint. The richness you taste is not cream. It is the alchemy of egg yolk, aged cheese, and the water your pasta cooked in.
Aglio e Olio
Rome distilled to four ingredients. The result depends entirely on how you treat the garlic.
Burro e Parmigiano (Alfredo)
A silken emulsion of butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, and pasta water. Roman simplicity at its peak, no cream, only technique. The sauce emerges when cold butter meets hot pasta and starchy water.
Amatriciana
A bold, rustic sauce from the mountain town of Amatrice. It is the evolution of Gricia, adding tomato to the holy trinity of guanciale, pecorino, and pepper.
Vignarola
A springtime celebration of Rome's finest vegetables: fava beans, peas, and artichokes tossed with guanciale and Pecorino Romano.
Papalina
A creamy Roman sauce of peas, heavy cream, and either prosciutto or guanciale. It is a richer cousin to Peas and Bacon.
Zozzona
A rustic, hearty Roman pasta of tomatoes, onion, and guanciale or pancetta. The name comes from the Roman dialect word 'zozz,' meaning dirty, simple man. It's a working person's dish.
Gricia
The ancestor of Carbonara. Guanciale, Pecorino, and black pepper without the egg.
Arrabiata
The angry sauce. Four ingredients, one rule: enough chili to matter.
Alla Romana
A Roman sauce of prosciutto cotto and peas in a light tomato base. No guanciale, no egg, no pecorino.
Cacio e Uova
A shepherd's sauce from the Lazio mountains, the simplest possible emulsion of pecorino, egg, and pasta water. It is the ancestor of Carbonara in its most stripped-down form, and it predates the guanciale by centuries.
Penne alla Vodka
A 1970s classic that is still misunderstood. It has tomato, cream, and vodka. The alcohol is not a gimmick. It releases flavour compounds from the tomato that water and oil cannot reach.
All'Aricciarola
Short pasta, porchetta di Ariccia, and a mountain of Pecorino Romano. The porchetta is warmed, never crisped, and the cheese is mantecato into the pan like cacio e pepe.