Italian
Cacio e Pepe
Cacio e Pepe is Italian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 1.5 cups grated pecorino romano
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente, using less water than usual so it turns starchy.
- Toast the coarsely ground black pepper in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Ladle a cup of the starchy pasta water into the skillet and let it cool slightly.
- Whisk the pecorino and parmesan into the warm water off the heat to make a smooth paste.
- Drain the spaghetti, reserving more water, and add it to the cheese sauce.
- Toss vigorously over low heat, adding pasta water until the sauce is glossy and clings, then serve.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Cacio e Pepe carries dairy and gluten. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | Yes | Chicken Cacciatore |
| Gluten | Yes | Butternut Squash Risotto |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Hearty
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Grains and Dairy
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Cacio e Pepe takes about 20 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on pasta, pecorino, and pepper.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from the United States.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.