Spaghetti coated in a creamy pecorino and cooking-water sauce, with the warm aroma of freshly crushed pepper. A light coating of sauce, with no added cream, brought together off the heat.
Method
- If preparing original and lighter portions together, set aside the ingredients and quantities shown for the lighter portions; the remainder is for the original portions. Prepare the two versions separately wherever their cooking or seasoning differs. Divide the quantities given for the whole preparation between the pans or bowls, rather than using the full quantity in each. Grate the pecorino on the small holes of a grater: a fine powder melts without becoming stringy. Crush the pepper in a mortar, reserving a small pinch for serving. Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan wide enough for the spaghetti.
- Toast the remaining pepper in a large dry frying pan over a medium heat for 45 seconds, shaking the pan. As soon as it smells fragrant, add a small ladleful of water from the saucepan to stop the toasting. Turn off the heat.
- Salt the water and cook the spaghetti for 1 minute less than the packet instructions, stirring often. After 5 minutes of cooking, ladle 250 g starchy water into a bowl. Measure out 70 g of it for the cheese mixture and let it cool to 55–60°C, stirring and checking with a thermometer; the absence of steam is not enough to judge the temperature.
- Gradually pour this measured water (70 g), at 55–60°C, onto the cheese, stirring with a fork to form a thick, creamy paste. Lift the spaghetti out with tongs, letting them drain, and transfer to the pepper pan. Add about 80 g cooking water and stir over a medium heat for 1 minute: the pasta should remain supple, with a little liquid around it.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir until the liquid at the bottom cools to around 60°C, checking with a thermometer without touching the metal. If the pan retains too much heat, transfer the pasta and its liquid to a large bowl at room temperature, then check the temperature before bringing the sauce together. Add the pecorino mixture in two additions, lifting the pasta as you mix. Loosen with spoonfuls of lukewarm water: the sauce should flow slowly and coat every strand, without graininess or strings of cheese. Do not return to a high heat. Serve on warm plates with the reserved pinch of pepper.
Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.
Lighter version
Reference variation for two servings.
The serving is smaller, and the sauce brings less richness and a shorter salty finish. The pepper remains just as expressive; a little water is enough to keep the sauce creamy and coating rather than diluted.
- Spaghetti : 140 g
- Pecorino Romano (250 g piece) : 80 g
Cook the pasta in the same amount of water. Start the cheese mixture with 45 g cooking water cooled to 55–60°C, checking this temperature with a thermometer. After the spaghetti’s final minute of cooking, remove the pan from the heat and stir until the liquid at the bottom is around 60°C before adding the cheese mixture; use the large room-temperature bowl if the pan stays too hot. Loosen only with spoonfuls of lukewarm water: there is less sauce, and it will become too runny if you add all the ladlefuls from the main recipe.
A smaller portion of pasta and less pecorino, with no added cream or thickener.
On your plate
Recipe
598 kcal · protein 30 g · carbs 73 g · fat 19 g
Quantities per person
- 110 g Spaghetti
- 55 g Pecorino Romano (250 g piece)
- 1.5 g Black peppercorns
- 5 g Fine salt
- 750 g Water
Cooking tips
Pecorino already contributes plenty of salt: taste before adding more. Check the temperature of the water and the liquid in the pan before adding the cheese; a fixed waiting time or the end of sizzling is not enough. If the sauce is only just beginning to thicken, a little lukewarm water and stirring off the heat may loosen it; cheese lumps that have already formed may not dissolve this way. Make just before serving, as the sauce sets as it cools. Pepper and pecorino are enough to give this dish its character.
Roman cacio e pepe, following the principle described by Turismo Roma: https://www.turismoroma.it/it/1042013-spaghetti-cacio-e-pepe ; proportions and temperature-control method adapted here.
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