Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (2024)

Cacio e Pepe, pronounced “kah·chee·o e peh·peh,” has recently skyrocketed to fame in the United States. Ironically, it’s one of the oldest recipes in Roman Cuisine and even dates back to the Roman Empire. The three simple ingredients: sheep’s cheese, black pepper, and dried thick pasta were ideal for Roman sheep herders to transport.

Cacio (cheese) e pepe (and black pepper) simply translates to cheese and black pepper. However, it is understood that when ordering this famous Roman dish, it would be paste cacio e pepe, or cheese and black pepper pasta. Our traditional recipe for this classic Roman dish uses bucatini pasta, so it’s Bucatini Cacio e Pepe.

The best part: This foolproof Cacio e Pepe recipe is absolutely delicious and only takes about 30 minutes to make from start to finish! It’s one of those easy pasta recipes you’ll make again and again.

Compared to the other 3 classic Roman pastas: Gricia (beef cheeks sauce), Amatriciana, and Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe is the most simplistic, but not necessarily the easiest to master. But guaranteed, if you visit Rome, you’ll want to make this simple dish when you return. And our Bucatini Cacio e Pepe recipe is the bomb!

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (1)

Authentic Bucatini Cacio e Pepe Recipe

This is an authentic Bucatini Cacio e Pepe recipe! A lot of recipes, dare I say, most of the recipes I see, are definitely NOT authentic Cacio e Pepe recipes. They may more appropriately be called Italian Mac and Cheese or Italian Cheese Pasta.

The traditional Cacio e Pepe pasta, cheese, and method for making this treasured Roman dish leave little room for reinvention. Although a creamy Cacio e Pepe does take some finesse, and would be easier if there was a Cacio e Pepe sauce, I like to stick to the real deal Roman recipe. And with these tips, you’ll find it’s not so hard after all. Here’s what you need for an authentic Cacio e Pepe ricetta (recipe).

Traditional Cacio e Pepe Pastas

If you want to know how to make Cacio e Pepe like a Roman, the first step is to use a traditional Cacio e Pepe pasta, which are bucatini, spaghetti, or tonnarelli. In the U.S., tonarelli cacio e pepe will be the most difficult to make as tonarelli pasta is the hardest to find.

Personally, I prefer the thicker long pasta with a whole in the middle over spaghetti, so our authentic Cacio e Pepe recipe uses bucatini pasta. But Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe (especially thick spaghetti) will certainly still be delicious, especially if that’s the type of past that’s in your pantry.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (2)

Traditional Cacio e Pepe Cheese

Traditional Roman recipes use ingredients from Rome or the surrounding region. So, the traditional cheese to be used for authentic Cacio e Pepe recipes is either Pecorino Romano, Cacio de Roma, or a combination of these two Roman cheeses.

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Parmesan cheese, or Parm as we sometimes call it, comes from Parma in the foodie region of Emilia-Romagna.

In U.S., the sheep’s milk cheese Pecorino Romano is readily available, so that is our cheese of choice for this Bucatini Cacio e Pepe recipe. It is not only one of the most popular cheeses of Italy, it is the cheese most traditionally used for this dish. Of course, if you cannot get that, or prefer Parm, it will make a good substitution.

No matter what, do not use pre-grated cheese! You will no longer have a foolproof Cacio e Pepe recipe. Since you’re not making a cheese sauce, it will not melt or combine well. Also, your Cacio e Pepe pasta will most likely be lumpy.

Pre-Ground Black Pepper or Fresh CrackeD Pepper for Cacio e Pepe?

You can use either pre-ground black pepper or fresh cracked whole peppercorns for cacio e pepe. The key is that the pepper has to be fresh. Usually, cracked pepper is courser, but you can also purchase course black pepper. The coarseness comes down to personal preference. If your ground pepper is fresh and kept in an airtight container, it will be tasty.

Authentic Cacio e Pepe Recipe

Whether you’re making Cacio e Pepe Bucatini, spaghetti, or tonnarelli, the method is the same for this traditional Roman dish. Although it may appear that there’s a creamy sauce, there is no “Cacio e Pepe sauce” per se. And a Cacio e Pepe ricetta does not include butter (not even unsalted butter), olive oil, or cream! That’s a dead giveaway that you are not using an authentic Cacio e Pepe recipe.

When making true Roman Cacio e Pepe, the ingredients are combined in a way that makes the pasta creamy-saucy without making a separate sauce or using additional ingredients.

However, with the burst in popularity of pasta cacio de pepe, many restaurants even in Italy are making a separate cheesy sauce to use on everything from pizza to croquettes. But the best Cacio e Pepe Rome has to offer is still the 3-ingredient traditional Cacio e Pepe pasta.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (3)

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe Recipe

Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 quarts water
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces bucatini pasta
7 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese
2 ½ teaspoons cracked black pepper

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (4)

Instructions

1. Bring 2 quarts of water and salt to a boil in a large skillet or pasta pot. Do NOT follow package direction for water quantity, only for cooking time.

2. Add bucatini pasta when water comes to a boil. It is important not to add additional water, as you want the water as starchy as possible. You can use a deep skillet, or use tongs if needed to bend the bucatini with a little twist to get it under the water as soon as possible. Use the tongs to stir the pasta intermittently.

3. The key to successful and creamy Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Grate the Pecorino as fine as you can by hand. The best way is to use a microplane; that is preferred. If you don’t have a microplane, use the smallest hole available on your grater. Since there is not a Cacio e Pepe sauce, the grated Pecorino Romano cheese needs to be very fine in order to melt properly. For best results, do not use pre-grated Pecorino Romano cheese and do not grate the cheese more than a half hour ahead of cooking your pasta.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (5)

4. Reserve a ½ cup of the Pecorino Romano and ½ teaspoon of cracked black pepper, and set each aside.

5. In a bowl, add the remaining black pepper to the remaining grated cheese, lightly mix, and set aside.

6. When the bucatini pasta is al dente, drain the pasta water into a large glass measuring cup, or bowl, and set aside. Keep the cooked pasta in the pot on the burner over medium heat. You need hot pasta to melt the cheese. Don’t worry about the pasta being too wet.

7. Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water back to the bucatini, and sprinkle in half of the cheese and pepper mixture. Stir well and quickly with kitchen tongs so that the cheese becomes creamy. Then add the remaining cheese and pepper and an additional ½ cup of pasta water so the cheese melts. Set the remaining pasta water aside.

8. If your pepper and cheese “sauce” begins to get lumpy, turn the heat on the lowest possible setting for a minute, keep stirring, and it should smooth out. Or you can add a little bit more water a couple of tablespoons at a time. Or, if needed, do both.

9. Heat a shallow serving bowl or dish in the microwave for a couple of minutes or run it under hot water and dry it.

10. Transfer the pasta to the serving bowl, add the separately set-aside, unmixed cheese and pepper as garnish, and serve immediately. I make sure everyone is at the dinner table before I make the transfer to the bowl.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (6)

What to serve with Cacio e Pepe Pasta?

Want to know what to serve with this classic Italian pasta dish? Whether it’s Tonarelli, Bucatini or Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe, it’s still a Roman pasta dish, and the flavors pair especially well with many foods in Italian cuisine as well as French cuisine and even those of Mediterranean cuisine.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe Side Dish

Since this Pecorino cheese and black pepper pasta can be pretty rich, it’s a good complement to plainer proteins like roasted chicken, or grilled fish or steak. If you want something a little more impressive, try it next to chicken or Fish Francaise. I love it next to Mediterranean Lamb Chops.

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe Entrée

I think this is one of the best pasta dishes! I can eat a plate of pasta with pepper and cheese any night of the week and be happy to call it dinner.

However, I also love my veggies, so a side vegetable of roasted brussels sprouts or broccoli would be my top 2 choices. Or sometimes I serve Bucatini Cacio e Pepe with a simple salad, like this cucumber, tomato, and onion, or when in season, this Strawberry Arugula Salad.

Paste Cacio e Pepe in Rome

If you are ordering Bucatini Cacio e Pepe in Rome, it is most likely going to be a primo piatto, a pasta course eaten before the main course. But if you’re a real pasta lover like me, don’t be afraid to order a pasta dish for your secondi too! Yes, I have done this many times, and no one ever minded!

Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode of “No Reservations” where he ate and loved this traditional pasta. When it first aired, they kept the restaurant in Rome a secret. Bourdain later revealed it to be Ristorante Roma Sparita. The ancient shepherds had no idea their peasant food would become such a sensation!

Nowadays, you can even find cacio e pepe to-go as a street food in Rome.

Do you love authentic Cacio e Pepe?

I’d love to hear where you’ve had it? How was is served? Have you made homemade Cacio e Pepe? Will you try this Bucatini Cacio e Pepe recipe? Let us know in the comments!

Looking for more easy recipes? How about one for another classic Italian dish? Try this homemade marinara sauce recipe and never buy a jar of marinara sauce again!

Pin this Bucatini Cacio e Pepe recipe!

Italian, Recipes

Denise Macuk

pasta, sauce

42 Comments

Bucatini Cacio e Pepe: Authentic Foolproof Recipe — Chef Denise (2024)

FAQs

Why Cacio e Pepe is so hard to perfectly execute? ›

But it is extremely hard to execute well because you need to control the heat. The cheese will become stringy if you heat up your pan too much (above 70 °C or 158 °F). I tested all the methods, so you do not need to! Cacio e Pepe is rare in restaurants because it is hard to serve warm without the corn starch trick.

What is Cacio e Pepe secret? ›

The secret, in addition to the chemical combination of water and Pecorino proteins to obtain a cream without lumps, lies in the flavor: whole peppercorns crushed the same day and plunged into the pan to toast releasing all their pungent aroma; the pasta whisked slowly and in a controlled way to absorb all the taste of ...

What makes Cacio e Pepe so good? ›

True to its name, Cacio e Pepe is often referred to as the stripped-down mac and cheese of Italy. It exemplifies the use of simple, quality ingredients (cheese, butter, olive oil, salt and pasta) in perfect proportions and pan sauce precision to create something extraordinary.

Why is my Cacio e Pepe always stringy? ›

That said, as simple as the cacio e pepe ingredient list may be, this dish is famously finicky when it comes to technique. If the cheese is overheated or the starchy pasta water isn't emulsified properly, the sauce can turn into a sticky, clumpy mess, which I can vouch from experience is always such a tragedy.

Where did Stanley Tucci eat Cacio e Pepe? ›

– Other must-visit locations include Campo de' Fiori, where Tucci witnesses a grocer preparing artichokes, and Bistrot64 in the Flaminio neighbourhood, where he tries the delectable cacio e pepe. This dish, described as “impossibly simple and delectable,” is a must-order when in Rome on one of our adventures.

How do you emulsify Cacio e Pepe sauce? ›

Add pepper and cook ('bloom'), until fragrant and toasted. Use tongs to pull pasta into the pan (this way you are reserving all the pasta water), then add ½ cup pasta water. Using a wooden spoon, stir the pasta, using the pasta as a whisk to emulsify the butter and pasta water into a sauce.

How do you keep Parmesan from clumping in Cacio e Pepe? ›

Avoiding clumps in cacio e pepe?
  1. Cooking the pasta shallow water in a wide pan to concentrate the starch. ...
  2. Add some of the pasta water to the cheese in a separate bowl a few minutes before the pasta finishes cooking.
Jun 20, 2018

Where did Anthony Bourdain have Cacio e Pepe? ›

The specific cacio e pepe that Bourdain loves best comes from Ristorante Roma Sparita in Rome, where the smooth, buttery, cheesy pasta is served in a bowl made of Parmesan. It looks amazing. While gushing over the pasta, Bourdain said he'd give up his first sexual experience to eat it again.

What are the ingredients in Trader Joe's Cacio e Pepe? ›

Ingredients. WATER, DURUM WHEAT SEMOLINA, PECORINO ROMANO CHEESE (SHIP'S MILK, SALT, ANIMAL RENNET, CHEESE CULTURES), MILK, WHEAT FLOUR, CREAM, BUTTER (MILK, NATURAL FLAVOR), GROUND BLACK PEPPER, SALT. Find out how your wellness data and product content can elevate the customer experience and convert more shoppers!

What are the ingredients in Trader Joe's Cacio e Pepe sauce? ›

Ingredients. Water, pecorino romano cheese (sheep's milk, sea salt, animal rennet), sunflower seed oil, modified cornstarch, ground black pepper, sodium citrate, xanthan gum, sea salt.

What pasta shape is best for cacio e pepe? ›

Spaghetti is the traditional pasta for cacio e pepe, but even Roman establishments now use popular shapes such as rigatoni, bucatini, and thick, square-cut noodles called tonnarelli. Use a good quality brand that cooks evenly and retains its al dente bite.

What is the best pasta for cacio e pepe? ›

Spaghetti: Cacio e Pepe is traditionally made with some kind of long pasta (noodle); I like to use spaghetti but I've also seen it with bucatini, linguine, fettuccine, and even tagliatelle. You can use either dry or fresh pasta.

Can I use Parmesan instead of pecorino for cacio e pepe? ›

Cheese– Aged Pecorino Romano is a MUST when making Cacio e Pepe. It is made from sheep's milk and has a strong and tangy flavor. I also use Parmesan cheese because I like the flavor of the two cheeses together. If you want to use ALL Pecorino Romano, you can, but personally I like the mix of both cheeses.

Is making Cacio e Pepe hard? ›

Rome's classic pasta combination of spaghetti, pecorino cheese, and black pepper can be a bit tricky to make at home but give it a whirl. All it takes is a little practice and some elbow grease to make a luscious, cheesy dish of pasta.

Is Cacio e Pepe hard? ›

Making an excellent amatriciana or a good carbonara is not that difficult, but cooking an at least passable cacio e pepe is not at all easy. In addition to good ingredients and patience, cooking cacio e pepe requires manual dexterity and a solid knowledge of food physics.

Why does my Cacio e Pepe break? ›

The trick is to toss the cheese with starch before heating it. As the starch heats up and gels, it stabilizes the cheese so it won't break. I tried the method for this Cacio e Pepe, which makes for a durable sauce that doesn't break even after raising the temperature until the sauce boils (usually a mortal sin).

Is Cacio e Pepe strong? ›

This dish is supposed to be heavy on the pepper, but if you don't like a strong peppery flavor or if you are serving to kids who are sensitive to pepper, you can reduce the amount. See the recipe notes. Cheese– Aged Pecorino Romano is a MUST when making Cacio e Pepe.

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