Cacio e Pepe

Toast the pepper

Crush the peppercorns coarsely with a mortar or the bottom of a pan. Toast them in a dry, wide skillet over low heat for about 1 minute, just until fragrant. Turn off the heat and set the pan aside; this wakes up the oils in the pepper and tames any raw bite.

• 2 tsp black peppercorns

✅ C'est prêt quand : the pepper smells toasty and the kitchen fills with its aroma

Cook pasta al dente

Bring a pot of water to the boil and salt it lightly (Pecorino is salty, so go easy). Cook the pasta 1–2 minutes less than the package says, so it stays very firm; it will finish cooking in the sauce. Before draining, scoop out at least 300 ml of the starchy cooking water and set it aside.

• 320 g tonnarelli or spaghetti
• to taste fine salt

✅ C'est prêt quand : the pasta still has a firm bite at the centre, not fully soft

Make the cheese cream

In a bowl, whisk the grated Pecorino with about 120 ml of the reserved pasta water, a splash at a time, until you get a smooth, pourable cream with no lumps. Using water that has cooled slightly rather than scalding hot keeps the cheese from seizing into strings.

• 160 g Pecorino Romano (most of the cheese)

✅ C'est prêt quand : the mixture looks like a smooth, loose paste with no dry clumps

Combine pasta and pepper

Lift the drained pasta straight into the skillet with the toasted pepper (no heat under it). Add a splash of the reserved pasta water and toss well so every strand picks up the pepper.

• 320 g cooked pasta
• 2 tsp toasted pepper (from step 1)

Add cheese cream off heat

With the pan off the heat (this is the key step: direct heat on hot pasta will make the cheese clump), pour in the cheese cream and toss vigorously, adding more pasta water a little at a time, until the sauce turns glossy and coats the pasta like a light cream. If it looks tight or stringy, add a touch more water and keep tossing.

• 20 g remaining Pecorino Romano, for finishing

✅ C'est prêt quand : the sauce clings to the pasta smoothly, with no stringy or grainy bits

Serve right away

Divide onto warm plates immediately, finishing with an extra crack of black pepper and a little more grated Pecorino if you like. Cacio e pepe waits for no one — it is best eaten the moment it is tossed, while the sauce is still silky.