How to Make Perfect Cacio e Pepe
Published on Oct 12, 2025
Learn how to make authentic Roman Cacio e Pepe with Sasha Marx of ChefSteps. Just three simple ingredients—pasta, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano—come together to create a creamy, peppery, and tangy dish that’s a staple of Roman cuisine.
Cacio e Pepe is pasta magic in its purest form—using only three ingredients, it delivers a surprisingly rich and creamy dish. This iconic Roman pasta, alongside gricia, amatriciana, and carbonara, highlights simple ingredients transformed by technique into something extraordinary.
In this video from ChefSteps, editorial director Sasha Marx, who grew up in Rome and has extensive experience in Italian fine dining, walks you through making perfect Cacio e Pepe without any gimmicks. She covers essential steps like toasting peppercorns to unlock their aromatic potential and plating the pasta like a pro.
Watch Sasha’s detailed demonstration to elevate your pasta skills to authentic Roman levels. You’ll see how combining pasta water, freshly ground black pepper, and Pecorino Romano cheese creates that flawless glossy sauce coating every strand of pasta.
For more recipes, tips, and professional cooking techniques, visit ChefSteps.com.
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Perfect Cacio e Pepe
Cacio e pepe is a classic Roman pasta dish made with just three ingredients—pasta, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano. This recipe shows how to toast peppercorns to bring out their aroma, create a creamy peppery sauce, and plate it perfectly like a restaurant dish.
Ingredients
- 200g spaghetti or tonnarelli pasta
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 100g Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
- Salt (for pasta water)
- Water (for boiling pasta)
Directions
- Measure out the pasta and finely grate the Pecorino Romano cheese.
- In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the whole black peppercorns until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Then, grind them coarsely.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil for the pasta.
- Add the pasta to the boiling salted water and cook until just before al dente, about 1-2 minutes less than package instructions.
- Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.
- Drain the pasta and set aside.
- In the sauté pan used for toasting pepper, add a ladle of reserved pasta water and the coarsely ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Add the drained pasta to the pan and toss to coat in the peppery water. Remove from heat, and gradually sprinkle in the grated Pecorino Romano while tossing vigorously to create a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water as needed to achieve a glossy, emulsified sauce.
- Twirl the pasta into nests on warm plates using tongs or a carving fork.
- Optionally, finish with an extra sprinkle of Pecorino Romano and cracked black pepper. Serve immediately while hot.
Mise en Place
Cooking Pasta and Sauce
Serving
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