Cacio e Pepe!

This is Italy's version of alfredo, and it's MUCH tastier and healthier for you because it has no oil or cream- JUST cheese and pepper! That's the literal translation in English: cheese and pepper. It's not difficult (once you get the technique down) and there's so few ingredients, that it's a cost effective meal for weeknight or feeding a crowd.

Cacio e Pepe is one of the four pastas that Rome is known for. The others being Pasta alla Grigia, a dish includes cheese and guanciale (roast pork cheek), Amatriciana, which has a spicy tomato sauce and prosciutto, and Carbonara that has pancetta and egg (I'll make and post those recipes later, because -fun!) Following the recipe is a picture of Cacio e Pepe and a few iconic pictures of Rome that I've taken from my trips there.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Pasta -spaghetti, linguine

1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese plus more for garnish

Freshly cracked pepper

Boil the water for pasta and start to cook to direction on box. A few minutes before the pasta is done, heat up the cracked pepper in a pan, then add a ladle of the hot pasta water. In another bowl have the grated cheese ready. Then add a very small amount of the hot pasta water to the cheese and stir to make a paste and set aside. Then about 2 minutes before the pasta is cooked take the pasta out of the pot and put it into the pan with the other hot water and pepper and stir constantly, cooking the pasta in that water/pepper mixture to absorb the liquid. Much like how you stir to make risotto until the liquid is absorbed. If you need to keep adding hot pasta water a little at a time until it's done that's ok. When the pasta is done it's ready for the cheese. Take it off the heat. Slowly add in the cheese-paste until fully incorporated into the pasta and nice and creamy looking in texture. Plate it up and add a little more cracked pepper and grated cheese for garnish! I only use Locatelli Pecorino Romano, but this method works with any kind and no oil or cream are necessary.

Piazza Novona:

Fontana di Trevi:

Pantheon:

Coliseum:

Vittorio Emanuele:

Piazza Novona (Dolce vita):

Cacio e Pepe a Roma: