🍝 Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe
Rigatoni cacio e pepe is pasta tossed with just two ingredients, pecorino romano and freshly cracked black pepper. Starchy pasta water melts the grated cheese into a smooth, creamy sauce that coats every ridge of the rigatoni. The flavour is sharp, salty and peppery. It is one of the simplest and most famous pastas of Rome.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g rigatoni
- 150 g pecorino romano, finely grated
- 2 tsp black peppercorns, freshly cracked
- Salt for the pasta water
Method
- Toast the cracked pepper in a dry pan for a minute.
- Boil the rigatoni in lightly salted water until al dente; keep 250 ml of the cooking water.
- Mix the pecorino with a little warm pasta water into a smooth paste.
- Add the pasta to the pepper pan off the heat, add the cheese paste and toss quickly, adding water until creamy.
- Serve immediately with more pepper.
How to make it lighter
- Use 100 g pecorino for four people instead of 150 g.
- Keep to an 80 g dry pasta portion.
- Serve with a large green salad or steamed vegetables.
History
Cacio e pepe is usually linked to the shepherds of the Roman countryside, who carried long-keeping pecorino and pepper. It is a pillar of Roman trattoria cooking, traditionally made with tonnarelli or spaghetti but often with rigatoni.
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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 →