Welcome to your free Cacio e Pepe Pasta Course! This iconic Roman dish uses just three ingredients—but getting it right requires technique. In this lesson, we’ll walk you through the traditional method, show you common mistakes to avoid, and explain how to achieve that creamy, peppery perfection without using cream.
This course is part of our series of Free Online Italian Cooking Classes for Pasta, where we teach you to cook pasta like Italians do—from dough to dishes.
Video Class Overview
This lesson is filmed in stunning 4K for visual clarity, with subtitles available in English, French, Spanish, German, and other languages.
Each class is structured to walk you through the techniques used by Italian cooks—so you can see what matters (and what doesn’t) when making pasta the traditional way.
Ingredients and How to Make Cacio e Pepe Pasta
The full ingredient list and step-by-step instructions are below. We’ve formatted the recipe for easy saving or printing. Be sure to watch the video first—it covers essential technique tips!
We use the most traditional measurements and techniques, so you can recreate this recipe exactly as it would be made in Italy—no shortcuts, no substitutions unless noted.
Cacio e Pepe Pasta Course
Equipment
- Large Stock Pot to cook the pasta
- Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 11 oz spaghetti dry is fine; choose 'bronze die cut' whenever possible
- 1 tbsp black pepper freshly ground at a medium coarse setting or using a mortar and pestle
- 7 oz pecorino romano cheese finely grated; use semi-aged cheese
- 6 ¾ cups water for cooking the pasta
- coarse salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Freshly grate the pecorino with the finest setting available. You may use a food processor to do this quickly. Set aside.7 oz pecorino romano cheese
- Freshly grind the black pepper (1 ½ Tbs) using a medium-coarse setting. You can use a mortar and pestle if you prefer.1 tbsp black pepper
Toast the Black Pepper
- Toast pepper in a large skillet over very low heat just until fragrant. Then, remove pan from the heat. We recommend adding the pepper to a cold skillet, then turning the heat on low. Do not over toast! We don’t want to create pepper gas 🙂
Cook the Pasta
- In a medium-large pot, bring 6 ¾ cups of water to boil. Start cooking the pasta in this pot of water for just half of the cook-time indicated on the package for ‘al dente’ pasta—about 5 minutes.6 ¾ cups water, coarse salt, 11 oz spaghetti
Simmer the Pepper
- While pasta is cooking, add 2-3 ladles of the pasta water to the pan with the black pepper. Return the pan to the heat, and simmer the black pepper in the water for 2 minutes.
Finish the Pasta
- When the pasta is halfway through the cook time, transfer the pasta to the pan with the pepper-infused water.
- Add another ladle of hot pasta water to the pan—just enough to keep the pasta cooking. Finish cooking the pasta until it is al dente. In the meantime…
Make the Pecorino Sauce
- In a bowl, add ½ cup (100 ml) of the hot pasta water to a cup or bowl. Let the water cool a minute or two, or until it has reached a temperature of about 140° F (60° C). Don't have a thermometer? See Notes…
- Add this pasta water to the pecorino cheese.
- Mix thoroughly until you’ve achieved a smooth, thick paste— similar in appearance to a smooth ricotta cheese.
Add the Cheese Sauce
- Remove the skillet with the cooked pasta from the heat. Drain any excess water so only a tablespoon or two of liquid remains in the pan. Add the pecorino paste to the pasta.
- Stir quickly with a pair of tongs until the paste is distributed throughout the pasta and has created a thick, creamy sauce (much like a bechamel). If the pasta seems a bit too watery, remember it will become denser after plating. Serve immediately and Buon appetito!
Equipment and Tools
You don’t need a professional kitchen to make great pasta—but the right tools can make it easier. For this recipe, we recommend:
- Mortar and pestle – for freshly grinding the black pepper.
- Cheese grating tool – for finely grating the Pecorino cheese. We recommend using the fine grater setting on a food processor or Vitamix. For sauces like Cacio e Pepe or Carbonara, we also suggest passing the finely grated Pecorino through a fine sieve to achieve a powdery consistency.
Video Class Overview
Is This Cacio e Pepe Pasta Recipe Traditional?
Yes—this is the way Romans in Italy make Cacio e Pepe. No heavy cream, no butter—just black pepper, Pecorino cheese, and hot, starchy pasta water.
Pro Tips for Making Cacio e Pepe
Use Less Water to Cook the Pasta
To boost the starch content of the water you’ll use in the sauce, cook your pasta in half the usual amount of water. Less water means a higher starch concentration, which is essential for creating a stable emulsion with the Pecorino cheese.
Then, as always, finish cooking the pasta in a skillet with a small amount of the pepper-infused, starchy water. This not only intensifies flavor, but also sets up the perfect conditions for mantecatura—the creamy final mix.
Use high-quality, bronze-die cut pasta
This dish relies on the sauce clinging to the pasta and generating enough starch in the pasta water—so the pasta surface matters. Bronze-die cut pasta has a rougher texture that holds onto the cheese and pepper sauce better than smooth, industrially extruded pasta. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference in the final result.
See our full article on Best Pasta Brands in Italy to learn more.
Finely grate the Pecorino cheese into a powder
Use semi-aged Pecorino and grate it as finely as possible to ensure a smooth, lump-free sauce. You can start with a fine grater or food processor, but for best results, pass the grated cheese through a fine sieve to get a powder-like consistency.
Make a Pecorino paste—not a sauce
Add just enough hot, starchy pasta water to the cheese to create a thick paste. This will emulsify properly during the final mixing step.
Mantecatura off the heat
Combine the Pecorino paste and pasta off the heat, stirring vigorously to coat each strand. The residual heat and starch will help form that glossy, creamy sauce Romans love.
If you’re using a pan that retains heat well (like stainless steel or carbon steel), let it sit off the heat for about 30 seconds before adding the Pecorino paste. It’s important to stay under 60°C (140°F) to prevent the cheese from coagulating. No thermometer? The 30-second rule usually works.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Not enough black pepper
With so few ingredients, each one matters. Use freshly ground black pepper, toast it lightly, and infuse it into the pasta water in the skillet where you finish cooking the pasta.
To maximize flavor, cook the pasta about ¾ of the way in boiling water, then finish it to al dente directly in the pepper-infused skillet water.
Clumpy, gooey cheese sauce
Despite its simplicity, Cacio e Pepe is easy to mess up. Common mistakes include:
- Using cheese that isn’t finely grated
- Using fully aged Pecorino that doesn’t melt easily
- Adding too much water to the cheese and making a “sauce” instead of a “paste”
- Leaving too much liquid in the skillet when mantecatura begins—only a couple of spoonfuls should remain
- Adding the cheese paste to a pan that’s too hot or still on the heat
The key is gentle heat, proper technique, and high-quality ingredients. When in doubt, slow down and follow the timing and texture cues shown in the video.