Cacio e Pepe is an ancient dish that has been a staple of the cuisine for a long time all over Italy though it is considered a Roman dish. If you have found a vacation rental in Rome, it is definitely one of the foods that you need to try while visiting the city.
Once, Cacio e Pepe was one of the mainstays of the diet of shepherds who had to spend months at a time herding outside. They could carry the necessary ingredients for the pasta dish, without worrying about it spoiling over time. It also meant that they were able to produce an easy and tasty meal that warmed their bodies with the spice of the pepper and provided the necessary carbohydrates and calories. As one can imagine, a dish like this survived and continues to be made centuries on.
Once, Cacio e Pepe was one of the mainstays of the diet of shepherds who had to spend months at a time herding outside. They could carry the necessary ingredients for the pasta dish, without worrying about it spoiling over time. It also meant that they were able to produce an easy and tasty meal that warmed their bodies with the spice of the pepper and provided the necessary carbohydrates and calories. As one can imagine, a dish like this survived and continues to be made centuries on.
The primary ingredients are pasta, pepper and “cacio”. This “cacio” is what Pecorino is known as in Roman dialect, and is a famous Italian sheep’s cheese that has been made for centuries on the coast of the Mediterranean, in north Africa and in Asia Minor.
If you want to try and replicate the dish yourself, while you plan a trip to Italy, try out this recipe!
Ingredients:
320g of spaghetti
125g of Pecorino Romano
4 tsp of black pepper, coarsely ground
5 tbsp of cooking salt
Method:
1. Cook the spaghetti in salted water.
2. While it is cooling, put the grated pecorino and pepper into a glass or aluminum bowl.
3. Once the pasta is al dente, take it out of the pan with a pasta spoon, not a colander!
4. Add the spaghetti to the bowl with the pecorino and pepper.
5. Add two ladles of pasta water to the ingredients and mix together.
6. Serve immediately.
If you want to try and replicate the dish yourself, while you plan a trip to Italy, try out this recipe!
Ingredients:
320g of spaghetti
125g of Pecorino Romano
4 tsp of black pepper, coarsely ground
5 tbsp of cooking salt
Method:
1. Cook the spaghetti in salted water.
2. While it is cooling, put the grated pecorino and pepper into a glass or aluminum bowl.
3. Once the pasta is al dente, take it out of the pan with a pasta spoon, not a colander!
4. Add the spaghetti to the bowl with the pecorino and pepper.
5. Add two ladles of pasta water to the ingredients and mix together.
6. Serve immediately.
Photo credit: Popo le Chien / CC BY-SA 3.0