The best rigatoni cacio e pepe in Rome at Trattoria Carlone. I have made my version A LOT so with a few tweaks to the process and a couple of added extras I have come up with a sauce I am so proud of and you’ll be dying to make for friends straight away. Getting the rigatoni to stay standing up can be annoying but do it with someone to make it a bit less laborious.
Ingredients
Rigatoni – any type of tubular pasta will work. If you want to make yours, no problem.
Cheese – for the cheesy pepper creamy sauce I use a combination of parmigiano reggiano and pecorino. If you don’t have pecorino you can sub for any other cheese that melts well like gruyere or even cheddar. Another layer of cheese goes over the top so use whatever you like here. I use a three cheese pre grated mix.
Cream – I don’t know a lot about cream classifications in other countries but we have single and double cream in Rome and I use double. I think it might be what is called heavy cream in other countries. If you have trouble with that then get in touch!
Pepper – Please use freshly ground black pepper, pre ground really just doesn’t do the job.
Extra ingredients
My usual 3 ingredient cacio e pepe sauce is delicious but it’s not secret that I am a huge white pepper fan. White pepper is my opinion always a better partner for parmesan so I add in a teaspoon of it to my buttery pepper sauce. If you haven’t baked pasta you are in for the biggest treat ever, it’s a guaranteed crowd impressing pasta dish .
How to make Rigatoni cacio e pepe
- Cook your pasta according to package directions in a pot of salted water.
- Add the black pepper and white pepper to a large frying pan with the butter over a medium heat. Let it pop for 1 minute.
- Add ½ cup of the pasta water (I just take it straight from the cooking pasta with a magic ladle ). You will have to work quick here.
- Turn the heat to low and add the pasta straight in and toss well. It will look really watery but don’t worry.
- Take it off the heat and add the finely grated parmesan cheese in 2 – 3 lots, letting each lot melt down before adding the next.
- I then add a ¼ cup of pasta water at the end on top of the pasta to bring everything together.
- Serve immediately! It’s really normal for a lot of the black pepper to sink to the bottom of the pan and that is why I add a little more pasta water at the end to try and get it off the bottom.
Main tips
Getting the heat perfect
It took me a long time to figure out what type of heat you are looking for. The pepper needs to gently pop away, NOT sizzle, so when you add the pasta water it isn’t too hot. You’ll figure it out the more you do it, trust me. So when you add the pasta water it should barely sizzle at all, if it splutters up then it’s too hot.
Pasta Water
The second sentence out of my mouth when I was born was pasta water is your best friend, I really do harp on about it a lot but it is KEY to every single sauce I make. Starch is released from the pasta into the water which acts as a thickening agent and helps sauces cling to the pasta. You can see how I use this technique in my Mafaldine Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce recipe, and throughout many other recipes on my blog!
I never ever EVER drain my pasta in a colander, I always transfer it directly into the sauce so that the pasta water is left in the pot for me to use as I need. You can always add more water to a sauce but you can’t take it away so I tend to undercook my pasta ever so slightly so that when I add my pasta into the sauce it can bubble away in the sauce and still be al dente.
Frequently asked questions
What pasta is best for cacio e pepe?
It really is my hand rolled rigatoni, so honestly get in the kitchen and make some! Any dried rigatoni will work perfectly though.
Should you grate the parmesan finely?
To me, it just makes zero sense to slice the parmesan with a knife into big shards as so many recipes I see. You can see in my other recipes like my Green pasta sauce how I use it.
Can you make cacio e pepe with butter?
I personally don’t like it made just with boiling water. You might not think again boiling water is an ingredient but in terms of a sauce it takes up so much space you can classify it as one. Butter adds flavour that you are missing by not using olive oil as I do when I make the classic sauce. If you’re a fan of rich, buttery sauces, be sure to check out my Butter and Cream Sauce recipe.
Will my sauce thicken up off the heat?
It definitely does! I take my sauce off the heat when I can see a good amount of the pasta is above the liquid. You’ll be able to tell but again, you will perfect it with time.
Made this recipe and loved it?
I would LOVE if you could leave me a review down below and let me know what you thought! I love to hear any tweaks or adaptations you have made too. Also if you put a photo on instagram , please tag @minelabakes so I can see, it makes my day!
Recipe
Easy Rigatoni Cacio e Pepe with a buttery twist!
Ingredients
- 220 grams dried pasta or 300g fresh, I like rigatoni personally
- 30 grams parmesan finely grated with a microplane
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- 20 g butter cut into cubes
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook your pasta in a pot of well salted boiling water.
- When your pasta is close to done heat a large fry pan over a medium heat and add pasta and ⅔ cup of pasta water.
- Whisk well and add your butter piece by piece, letting them dissolve down before adding the next. When all the butter has melted lower your heat slightly.
- Add your Parmesan in 2 – 3 lots, again letting each lot melt down before adding the next. Whisk well to combine so all the cheese is off the bottom of the pan.
- Let the mixture come up to a very gentle simmer and cook for 2 – 3 mins so it thickens slightly.
- Add your cooked pasta directly into the sauce and let it bubble away for another 1 min or so to thicken more (it will thicken up off the heat)
- Take off the heat, let it stand for a min or two off the heat so it thickens a bit more then serve!
