Fail-Proof Cacio e Pepe

Inspired by our photographer’s recent trip to London’s Mercato Mayfair

Photography by Ashlee Glen

“Megan, have you ever had cacio e pepe?” our photographer, Ashlee Glen, excitedly asked me on a recent photoshoot. She was fresh off a plane from London and was rattling off the life-changing meals she had while traveling there with her daughter.

One such meal was at Mercato Mayfair, Mercato Metropolitano’s second London location located inside a deconsecrated church on North Audley Street. Its towering ceilings and deep vaults make it an ideal location—if not for worship—for worldwide cuisine and an impressive wine collection. Mercato Mayfair is essentially a food hall, with cultures from all over the world represented.

“On the spot made pasta that was amazingly affordable, and fun chefs who know what they’re doing,” is how Ashlee described her experience and the reason why cacio e pepe—translated from Italian as cheese and pepper—was her immediate choice.

Since her return, I haven’t been able to get cacio e pepe off my mind: the salty, rich, umami flavor from an aged Pecorino Romano; the aromatic and slightly spicy note from freshly ground black pepper; the light and creamy way that the cheese just melts as it blends with hot pasta water. It’s heaven.

Inspired by Ashlee’s recent trip to London’s Mercato Mayfair and to ease my own pasta cravings, here’s a simple cacio e pepe recipe for you to recreate her decadent meal at home. Note: I strongly suggest you make fresh pasta for this—it adds a level of textural dimension that just can’t be accomplished with store bought pasta. Plus, making pasta from scratch is just so fun.

Cacio e Pepe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 5 cups Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
• 1 lb pasta—spaghetti, bucatini, fettucini, or tagliatelle all work here
• Salt for the pasta water—enough for the water to taste like the sea

Directions

1. In a pot, bring water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, salt the water.
2. While the water is coming to a boil, grate the Pecorino Romano cheese.
3. With a mortar and pestle, grind up the peppercorns to a fine consistency. Set a tablespoon of ground pepper aside, this is the pepper you will be using. Note: Freshly ground black pepper is crucial to this dish.
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions. If you’re using fresh pasta, you will only need mere minutes.
5. While the pasta is cooking, heat a pan over medium heat and toast your ground pepper until it smells aromatic. This should take no more than a minute.
6. Once the pasta has cooked, reserve 2 cups of pasta water and drain your pasta.
7. Add your pasta back to your hot pot, add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water, and sprinkle half of your cheese and half of your pepper. Stir well and quickly with tongs to achieve a creamy cheese sauce.
8. Add the remaining cheese and pepper and an additional ½ cup of pasta water to the pasta and mix again.
9. If your cheese sauce is lumpy, you can either return the pasta to the stove on the lowest heat setting and stir for a minute, add a little bit more pasta water, or both.
10. You will have some leftover ground pepper from when you originally ground it with the mortar and pestle, reserve this to serve on top of the pasta after you’ve portioned it into bowls.