Cacio e Pepe
Pasta, Peppercorns, and Pecorino Romano. Those are the three main ingredients you will need to make this Cacio e Pepe with Arugula. I've added in some arugula as I think the peppery green compliments the dish perfectly, but if you don't have arugula, this dish is great without it. This dish comes together quickly and is a really simple dish once you know a few techniques.
Ingredients
- 2 cups pecorino romano cheese, grated fine
- 2 tbsp teliicherry peppercorns
- 2-3 cups arugula optional
- 454 grams spaghetti
- salt
- lemon to serve optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, boil some water, heavily salt
- Grind your peppercorns
- Put the pasta in the pot
- In a seperate pan, put your peppercorns in over medium heat. Let toast for a minute then ladle in a bit of the pasta cooking water.
- In a seperate bowl, put your grated pecorino (reserve a little for garnish). Ladle in a little bit of pasta cooking water and stir to make a paste.
- Once the pasta is 3/4 finished, transfer with tongs to the peppercorn/pasta water mixture. Add a little more pasta water as needed and toss around and finish cooking the pasta in this until is is al dente. Add pasta water as needed, a little at a time. Once done stir in your cheese mixture and toss until creamy.
- Toss in arugula, put in a serving platter and sprinkle with a little more pecorino.
- A little lemon is nice here if you like to serve.