Bucatini Cacio e Pepe

Quite simply, bucatini cacio e pepe is pasta in a sharp cheese and black pepper sauce. Great alternative to a tomato-based pasta recipe.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: cacio e pepe

Servings:

Start cooking the pasta in a pot of boiling and salted water. Reduce the amount of water in the pot by about 1/3 of what you usually use to concentrate the starch, which will become a part of the sauce later. Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
Grate the cheese using the smallest grater holes, it needs to be extra fine to create a silky sauce. Do not use pre-grated cheese for this recipe. Grind and measure out the pepper.
Preheat a mixing bowl, so it’s warm. You can use a low setting oven or microwave it for a minute, which is what I did. Add the cheese to it and the black pepper. Start gradually adding the hot pasta water to it a little bit at a time and mix it with a whisk until you get a smooth sauce, which looks a bit like béchamel, the cheese should completely incorporated into it. I added 170ml/3/4 cup of the warm pasta water in total.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce, start coating it gently using a pair of tongs or two large spoons until the sauce is coating every bucatini strand. Serve in warm bowls with extra grating of the cheese if desired.