🍝 Bucatini cacio e pepe

Name: Bucatini cacio e pepe
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy · Rome, Lazio
Ingredients: 400 g bucatini; 120 g pecorino romano, very finely grated; 2 tsp black peppercorns, freshly cracked; Salt for the pasta water

Origin: Italy · Rome, Lazio

450kcal

per serving · 250 g

180kcal

per 100 g

21 gProtein8.5 g / 100 g

18 gFat7 g / 100 g

60 gCarbs24 g / 100 g

Cacio e pepe means 'cheese and pepper', and that is almost all there is: bucatini, finely grated pecorino romano and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Starchy pasta water melts the cheese into a smooth, creamy sauce without any cream. The result is rich, salty and peppery. It is served at once, while the sauce is still glossy.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: pecorino

Contains glutenbecause of: bucatini

Contains dairybecause of: pecorino

Not keto24 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

bucatinipecorinoblack pepper

Recipe

4 servings20 min

Ingredients

400 g bucatini
120 g pecorino romano, very finely grated
2 tsp black peppercorns, freshly cracked
Salt for the pasta water

Method

Boil the bucatini in lightly salted water (pecorino is already salty).
Toast the cracked pepper in a dry wide pan for a minute, then add a ladle of pasta water.
Mix the pecorino with a few spoons of warm (not boiling) pasta water into a smooth paste.
Move the pasta, slightly underdone, into the pepper pan and toss for a minute.
Off the heat, add the cheese paste and toss quickly, loosening with pasta water until creamy; serve immediately.

How to make it lighter

Use 80 g of dry pasta per person — the sauce is mostly cheese, so portion size matters most.
Reduce the pecorino to 80 g for four and let extra pepper carry the flavour.
Pair it with a large leafy salad or grilled vegetables to make a lighter, fuller plate.

History

Cacio e pepe is a traditional dish of Rome and the surrounding Lazio countryside. It is often linked to shepherds, who could carry dried pasta, aged pecorino and pepper on long journeys, though this story is hard to document. Today it is one of the four signature pastas of Roman trattorias.

Count it in one photo

Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Bucatini cacio e pepe and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.

Download on the App Store

Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →