Cacio e Pepe
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Barilla. As always, I only partner with brands that I love and truly believe in, allowing me to create more quick and easy recipes to get us through the week without breaking the bank. All opinions expressed are my own.
5 ingredients. 20 minutes! Spaghetti, butter, black pepper, heavy cream and Parmesan. That is it! Simple, quick, easy and just so good!!!
I still can’t believe it’s been 2 weeks since my Barilla®-Italy extravaganza.
I think about going back.
Not just for the Pasta World Championship. But, basically, to eat more pasta.
More specifically, cacio e pepe. Because this was basically my diet the entire trip.
(Other than a super quick and desperate burger in Milan. But we’re not going to talk about that.)
No, but really, I don’t even know how to pronounce this dish. I kind of just say CACHIO….and then mumble the rest.
But what I do know is this.
I need this in my life on the daily.
Plus, with 20 minutes from start to finish, you can actually have this every. single. night.
And not just because it’s World Pasta Day today. Even though it’s World Pasta Day every day for me.
Life’s just too short for the kale salad diet.
Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Barilla spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente; reserve 1 cup water and drain well.
- Melt better in a large skillet over medium heat. Add black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in heavy cream and 3/4 cups reserved water; bring to a simmer. Stir in Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 2-4 minutes.
- Stir in pasta and gently toss to combine. If the mixture is too thick, add more water as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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I love this as a simple dinner paired with a salad and some garlic bread. Because everything is better with garlic bread, obviously. It’s also an easy way to get my family to not notice that it’s Meatless Monday, because of all the cheese and bread, you know? 😉
It was a bit bland even with all the cheese but nothing a bit of salt couldn’t help. I have never made cacio with heavy cream but I enjoyed this recipe as just butter and reserve water tend to make it dry and the cheese ends up really chunky and clumpy. Husband and the daughter loved it.
Sorry but cream does not belong in authentic caccio e pepe. Sounds more like an Alfredo with pepper. I otherwise always love your recipes 😉
I added a little crushed red pepper and this was great! I would have liked it without the hint of spice but my husband likes spice. We had it with the mini garlic pull apart bread.
This recipe is so good! I had this at a restaurant in San Diego and loved it, but wasn’t sure how to duplicate it. I was so thrilled when I saw your recipe because I have made so many of yours and have never been disappointed. My family loves it, and it will be in constant rotation at my house. Thanks Chungah!
What am I doing wrong? When I add the pasta, the cheese clumps all together and sticks to the tongs and bottom of the pan?
It sounds like your heat may be set too high!
Of course everyone gets butthurt when you do something nontraditional with Italian food.
Looks delish and I’ll have to try it this way. Bf puts so much pepper on alfredo as is- may as well just make this (and he’ll still put pepper on).
Made this last night for dinner and LOVED it. Thanks for a delish recipe!
no cream
Are there no nutritional details just because it’s sponsored by Barilla?
Not at all. Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, I recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps, Aisha!
I’m confused, why would you want to omit the heavy cream?
I made it and learned a few cooking skills along the way. Thank you, as always, Chungah! You nailed it.
Wow I have never heard of this dish before but it looks awesome. Always a fan of the creamy pasta dishes (:
1 1/2 tsp of pepper was too much pepper for me. I’ll be cutting that in half next time. But otherwise, very good! Quick and easy!
Looks like another one I’ll have to try!! Yummy! Thank you.
I loved this recipe, easy and delicious!
Love how simple this dish is!
Has anyone added shrimp to this recipe?
I have made a similar dish with shrimp and mascarpone instead of cream. Love the different variations.
I love your recipes, but I have to disagree on this one. Heavy cream puts this over the top. I use 1/2 cup pasta water to add creaminess and Pecorino Romano cheese which has a more savory flavor than Parmesan. Perhaps you might rename the dish to suit your version. Thanks anyway.
This Cacio e Pepe recipe can be altered any way you like, but I think Chungah has nailed it! I call this Cacio e Pepe, but you can call it “Alfredo a la Pepe” or whatever you want, but the cream makes this dish a smooth stand-out. There is a lot of heat in the pepe, so be prepared to next time alter it per your learned level of tolerance. Try this pasta next to a simply fried cube steak, steamed lima beans, and a full-bodied red wine.