Updated… No… Overhauled on 10Mar2024

Here we are… Almost 5 years later, JK has all but kicked the bucket. We’ve been through a lot… I got a new, much more time consuming job, a freaking pandemic came and went, I met my girlfriend and moved in with her, and most importantly, I made and ate a lot of pasta.

That said, 5 years does a lot to someone. Have I matured? Maybe… My hairline certainly looks thinner… In any case, as a human who (A) needs nutrition and (B) is engaged in a perpetual battle to prevent a 6-pack from forming, I am still doing plenty of eating, and by extension, cooking. While most of my cooking has been off-the-cuff and photo-unworthy, I have still been able to accrue some notes and content to eventually be uploaded to this site.

And yes, despite having a recipe published already, I took some of this time to rework my cacio e pepe recipe. The last one had some neat ideas, such as advocating the use of a double boiler via a long-winded rant about the thermodynamics of water and cheese (was I just trying to sound smart?). It certainly sounded promising, but in practice, the technique was awfully clunky and the results were inconsistent. So TDLR, Just Kitchin needs cacio e pepe redemption, baby.

This time it’s no holes barred (wtf does that even mean?). We’re dropping all biases, pretentiousness, and giving you guys a 100% fool-proof, saucey-delicious cacio e pepe. So let’s get into it.

Keys to This Recipe

1) Firstly, goodbye double boiler. Good riddance. Also no blender required… Or any other clunky kitchen gadgets for that matter.

2) Second… stick with me here… we’re adding starch to the pasta water. Yes, I understand this is a dish that’s supposed to be sexy, minimalist… i.e.,  a “no fucking-way I’m pulling out measuring spoons and some messy cornstarch during my date night” type dish. But… remember what I said! We’re kicking all biases to the curb. This just works. The reason? We need plenty of viscous, starchy pasta water in order to emulsify the cheese sauce, preventing the dreaded, clumpy mess. Yes, I also understand there is a well-known technique to boil the pasta in a minimal volume of water to concentrate the natural starches, providing a similar result. Don’t get me wrong, that will work if executed properly, but I find it much more fool proof to add your own starch, such as corn or potato starch. It also brings the added benefits of consistency and not having to cook pasta in a frustratingly small quantity of water - we will have a full pool of perfectly starchy water to our disposal! 

3) Mud water…? Black pepper tea? My favorite looking cacio e pepe dishes are those that have a slightly golden-colored sauce. This happens when the liquid component of the sauce (i.e., water) is infused and visibly darkened with black pepper, which when mixed with the white cheese, results in a pleasantly-hued final product. In this recipe, we achieve this result by simply heating a mixture of toasted pepper and water (I use a microwave 🙂), which is subsequently added to the sauce. If you’d rather keep your sauce bleach-white, this step is optional.

4) You’ve heard it before I’m sure!… No pre-ground cheese with anti-caking agents please. If you manage to find pre-ground cheese without such agents, that should work just fine.

4) Lastly, precision, precision, precision. While many recipes can be treated as templates, cacio e pepe is particularly finicky and prone to failure… That said, I strongly urge you to follow this recipe precisely. For those using volumetric measurements for the cheese, please lightly pack and level while measuring to ensure consistency…  Bonus points for those who use a scale to weigh ingredient quantities!

Ingredients

Serves 2-3

• 8 ounces (1/2 pound) of dried spaghetti

• 100 grams (approx. 1 cup lightly-packed) of finely grated Pecorino Romano (as fine as you can get it)

• 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• Salt

Method

1. Mix both the olive oil and the black pepper in a microwave-safe bowl or ramekin and microwave on high for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside.

2. To the bottom of a large pot, add all of the corn starch as well as 1 tablespoon of salt. Subsequently fill the pot with 2 liters (approx. 8 cups) of water. The water entering the pot should be enough to dissolve the cornstarch on its own. If clumps are present, however, give it a few mixes. Turn on the heat and bring the water to a boil. WARNING: The one downside to the cornstarch is that the water may want to boil over. To mitigate this, reduce the heat to medium just as the water is coming to a boil.

3. Add your pasta to the pot. Mix a few times in the beginning to ensure the noodles don’t stick together.

4. While pasta is cooking, take 1/4 cup of the hot water and pour into the pepper and olive oil mixture. Mix briefly and let steep to draw out the color of the peppercorns.

5. In a heat-safe bowl, add all the cheese as well as 1/8th teaspoon of salt.

6. When pasta is 90% done, carefully remove 1/2 cup of the hot, starchy pasta water. Whilst still hot, slowly whisk the reserved water into the cheese mixture, gently melting the cheese into a sauce. Following, whisk in the olive oil + pepper + water mixture until the sauce is completely emulsified.

   • For an insurance policy later on, reserve another 1/2 cup of pasta water.

7. When pasta is fully cooked to your liking, thoroughly drain the pasta in a colander. Retaining the pasta’s residual heat here is important, so proceed immediately to the next step!

8. Working quickly, transfer ~1/4 of the cooked pasta into the cheese mixture and mix for a few seconds to temper the sauce. Repeat 3 more times until all the pasta is mixed with the sauce.

9. Adjust sauce to desired consistency - If too thin, add more cheese. If too thick, add more pasta water.

10. Serve immediately on (ideally) pre-warms bowls. Shower with more grated cheese, pepper, or even lemon zest. Enjoy.