The translation of Cacio e Pepe literally means cheese and pepper. This pasta dish is incredibly simple, but packs a lot of rich flavor with pecorino Romano cheese and freshly ground pepper. It has a very rich and strong flavor due to the Pecorino Romano sharp cheese as well as the heavy amount of pepper. Warning: some might find this dish spicy.
Cheese Options:
This is a classic Roman dish, so you should use a hard cheese from the Roma region of Italy for the most authentic flavor. Pecorino Romano is the traditional choice. If you do not have Pecorino Romano available to you, grated Parmesan is an acceptable substitute, though not an authentic choice as it comes from the Parma region of Italy.
Pasta Options:
The traditional choice of pasta for Cacio e Pepe is tonnarelli pasta, a thick round long pasta similar to a thick spaghetti or bucatini. Since these are both similar in shape, they both make acceptable substitutes where tonnarelli is not available. If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other pasta recipes:
Pasta Primavera Pasta PomodoroAglio e Olio The Most Amazing Lasagna
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