Dinner at Home – Cacio E Pepe Pasta Recipe

Raise your hand if you love eating out?  This girl right here is a big fan! As the weather starts to get chilly, though, I crave those same delicious meals but in my home. Since we moved into our new place (You can read about it here) I’ve been wanting to stay home more.  Maybe it’s the newness of the condo or maybe it’s my older age, but staying in actually sounds like fun now. To me there is nothing better than a restaurant style meal in my own home on a weekend night.

During the week we shuffle through classic, easy recipes that we can make with our eyes closed.  By the time we get home from work and do a few things it’s late and I’m ready for bed. The weekends are great for me to try out new recipes that may take a bit longer to cook.  I’ve been on a huge kick to try new recipes lately, so if you have any good ones send them my way! Weekends are also great to slow down and have more time to talk with Mike over dinner.

We recently started a new tradition where once a month (or more) we make a home cooked meal on a Saturday night.  It means we go all out too! We break out the china and the crystal wine glasses. We received all of our china for our wedding and I want to put it to good use, so we use it when we can.  So we set the table, pour some wine (non-alcoholic wine for me), turn on music, and put all electronic devices away. We like to simply sit, eat, and talk to each other.

This weekend I made Cacio E Pepe!  We originally heard about it last year on our trip to Italy (you can read about the trip and amazing food in this post ). We had it a few times there and when we came home I had to make it for us. My recipe is rather simple, but it’s packed with so much flavor!  The best part is it takes less than 20 minutes to make.

There is one secret I want to share about this cacio e pepe recipe.  Using freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese instead of pecorino cheese takes this dish to the next level!  I use a fine hand grater to get ultra thin shreds of cheese.  It blends and melts better with the other other ingredients and doesn’t get stringy.

Cacio E Pepe Pasta Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 oz of spaghetti
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp salted butter
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Boil a large pot of salted water.  Add spaghetti and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes.

2. While the pasta is cooking soften the butter, mash it up, then add the olive oil and freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in a large bowl  and form a paste.

3. Once the pasta is done, drain it and reserve ½ cup of the pasta water.  Add the paste mixture directly into the pot, mix until spaghetti is coated.  Add the pasta water to the pot slowly and sparingly until you have a creamy, thick sauce.   Season with salt and ground pepper to taste.

4. Serve immediately and enjoy your cacio e pepe!