Cacio e Pepe

Put 3 litres of water on to boil in a wide pot; the small volume keeps the water starchy. Grate the Pecorino Romano as finely as you can, using the small holes of the grater, so that it melts rather than clumps. Cracking the pepper coarsely gives better flavour than ground pepper from a jar: crush the peppercorns in a mortar, or under a heavy pan, until they are in rough pieces. Keep the cheese and the pepper at room temperature.

• Pecorino Romano160 g
• black pepper2 tsp

Add a light pinch of salt to the boiling water, since the cheese brings plenty of its own. Cook the spaghetti for 8–9 minutes, or about 2 minutes less than the packet says, so that it is still clearly underdone in the centre. It finishes cooking in the pan. Do not drain it yet: the pasta water is the base of the sauce, and the pasta comes out of the pot with tongs.

• spaghetti400 g
• water3 L
• saltto taste

While the spaghetti finishes cooking, toast the cracked pepper in a wide dry pan over medium heat for 1 minute, until it smells sharp and warm. Ladle about 150 ml of the cloudy pasta water into the pan and keep it on low heat. Put 120 g of the grated Pecorino in a bowl and stir in 6 tablespoons of pasta water a little at a time, until you have a thick, smooth cream with no lumps.

• Pecorino Romano120 g
• black pepper2 tsp

Lift the spaghetti straight from the pot into the pepper pan with tongs, letting some water come along. Cook for 1 minute over low heat, tossing, until the water has thickened slightly. Take the pan off the heat and wait 30 seconds. Add the cheese cream and half of the remaining Pecorino, and toss hard for 1–2 minutes, adding pasta water by the spoonful, until the sauce is glossy and clings. Serve at once, with the last 20 g of cheese on top.

• spaghetti400 g
• Pecorino Romano40 g