Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e pepe is pasta tossed with Pecorino cheese and black pepper until they melt into a glossy, peppery sauce. It has only three real ingredients, which is exactly why it's harder to get right than dishes with twenty — there's nowhere to hide a mistake.

What it actually is

Pasta, usually tonnarelli or spaghetti, is boiled in well-salted water, and a cup of the starchy cooking water is saved before draining. Off the heat, the pasta is tossed with finely grated Pecorino Romano and coarsely cracked black pepper, with splashes of the reserved pasta water worked in until the cheese melts into a smooth, clinging sauce rather than clumping or seizing.

Getting the emulsion right — cheese and starchy water becoming sauce, not stringy lumps — is the whole skill of the dish, and it's why cacio e pepe is often used as a test of a cook's basic technique.

How it's served

• Immediately, in a warmed bowl; the sauce tightens and can seize as it cools.
• With extra black pepper and Pecorino at the table, for guests who want more.
• On its own, no protein or vegetable added — it is a complete dish as written.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag the gluten and dairy; there's no version of this dish without both.
• Say if you use Pecorino specifically, not a Parmesan substitute — the sharper, saltier cheese is what the dish is built around.
• Note it's finished to order, not held; a cacio e pepe made ahead and reheated separates.
• Mention it's vegetarian, a rare simple option among heavier Roman pasta dishes on the same menu.