Cacio e Pepe

How to make it

1. 1Toast the cracked pepper in a wide dry pan over medium heat for 30 seconds — until you can smell it sharply — and add half a ladle of cold water to stop the cooking and create a peppery slurry.
2. 2Set aside off the heat.
3. 3Bring 3 L of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until just shy of al dente, about a minute less than the package says; in Rome the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce, not in the pot.
4. 4While the pasta cooks, scoop out a mug of starchy water from the pot.
5. 5In a wide bowl, whisk the grated Pecorino with about 4 tablespoons of the hot pasta water — let it cool a few seconds first, since boiling water on cheese clumps it instantly — until you have a thick, ricotta-like paste; loosen with another spoonful of water if it's too stiff.
6. 6Lift the pasta from the pot with tongs straight into the peppered pan (don't drain it), splash in a ladle of starchy water, and toss vigorously over low heat for 30 seconds, until the pasta is glossy and well coated.
7. 7Take the pan off the heat — Pecorino above boiling point seizes into stringy clumps — pour over the cheese paste and toss again, fast, adding more pasta water by the spoonful if needed, until the sauce becomes a creamy emulsion that clings to every strand.
8. 8Plate immediately with another crack of pepper on top; cacio e pepe cools quickly, so plates should be warm and diners at the table.