Simple, Classic Bucatini Cacio E Pepe Recipe

It's hard to go wrong with a pasta dish when you want to make something both easy and tasty, but a standard spaghetti in marinara sauce can start to feel stale after a while. This bucatini cacio e pepe could be the perfect solution to your weeknight dinners — it's quick, easy, requires only 5 ingredients, and makes the perfect introduction to Rome's most iconic pasta recipes. As recipe developer Julianne De Witt explains, the dish's cheesy, peppery flavors are actually found right in its name, as cacio e pepe translates quite simply in Italian to "cheese and pepper." 

One thing that's a little different about this 15-minute pasta recipe is the cooking method. "This pasta is cooked using the risottare, or risotto, method, where the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce," explains De Witt. That said, it's very easy to do; you just remove the pasta from the boiling water before it's fully cooked and add it to the pan when the sauce is ready. "The pasta may be slightly stuck together when you add it to the saucepan, but it will release as you gently stir into the sauce," De Witt encourages. "I love this recipe because it's so simple but delicious." 

Add water and salt to a large pot and bring to a boil.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the peppercorns. Set aside.

Add bucatini to the boiling water and cook until halfway done, approximately 6 minutes.

Reserve the pasta cooking water before draining the bucatini. Set both aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter.

Add 1 tablespoon crushed black pepper and stir.

Add a large ladle of pasta water to the pan and bring to a simmer.

Add pecorino and stir until fully melted and incorporated into the sauce.

Serve immediately with more pecorino and pepper, if desired.

The trick with simple recipes with limited ingredients is that the quality of each ingredient plays a major role in the recipe's final result. For that reason, it's best to follow the recipe precisely to garner the best results. That said, De Witt says out of the 5 ingredients in this cacio e pepe, the pasta is the one you can substitute if needed. "I like to use bucatini, a thicker pasta with a hole down the center that allows it to capture more of the cheesy sauce. If fettuccine or spaghetti is all you have on hand, it will make a fine substitute." 

Two areas where De Witt advises against cutting corners are with the recipe's flavor-makers: the cheese and pepper. "Pecorino Romano is a hard cheese made form sheep's milk. Its grainy texture makes it perfect for grating. I recommend a good-quality pecorino for this recipe," she says. And while you may be tempted to pull out your pepper shaker from the cupboard to skip the steps where you toast and crush fresh peppercorns, it's best to stick to the recipe. "Toasting the peppercorns before crushing maximizes the flavor. The oils in the peppercorns are released, resulting in a smoky and spicier flavor. I like to use a mortar and pestle to crush the peppercorns so I can control the coarseness, but a pepper mill can be used as well," De Witt says.