Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

Mmm mmm mmm. Spaghetti cacio e pepe. If you read my New York Food Diary post, then you'll know that I absolutely fell in love with this pastsa from Eataly. And I thought it would be years until I'd be able to taste this dish again. But thanks to the power of the internet (and Eataly for posting their actual recipe) I was able to recreate the dish in the comfort of my own home... (and not to mention, also in bigger portions lol). I was so excited to test this recipe out and it was surprisingly so easy to make as well.

Starting off with the ingredients, you are going to need:
1 lb. spaghetti

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons peppercorn (more or less, up to your preference)

1 1/2 cups Pecorino Romano, freshly grated

When I first saw this ingredients list I thought, 'well that's easy, but where am I supposed to get fancy cheese like that.' I almost didn't make this recipe cause I thought I'd never find some Pecorino Romano, especially a block of it that I could freshly grate. But fate did not want that to happen because one grocery trip later, I found myself in the Costco cheese aisle and immediately remembered this recipe when I began to read the fancy names of all the cheese they offer.

Anyways, back to the recipe... you first want to get a pot filled with 6 quarts or 24 cups of water. Yes. That many for just one pound of pasta. I don't know why. But it is a lot of water, so in the future I may possibly use less than that. In this first try, however, I wanted to do everything by the book.

To that water, you want to add two tablespoons of salt. 

Once it comes to a boil put your spaghetti in and cook it al dente.

But while your pasta is cooking, you of course want to move on to and prep your other ingredients.

With your two tablespoons of whole black peppercorns, you want to grind them up finely. 

In my case, I did not have a pepper grinder so I tried to smash them with a mallet. Which I do not recommend unless you can ensure that you will be able to crush all of them up. Or you'll end up with some whole black pepper corns that are not pleasant to eat (like I did; oops).

As for your cheese, you want to grate at least 1 1/2 cups of it to add to your spaghetti. 

I also grated some extra to sprinkle on top of the final dish and have as an option for anyone to add more cheese to their servings if they would like.

Now all the prep is done, and you're almost there!

When your noodles are ready, you just want to grab them straight out of the pot and let them drip a little. Then place it into a warm bowl.

Immediately add in your cheese gradually, starting off with one cup first, and mix!

Then you want to start adding and mixing your pepper in.
I definitely recommend to add it in portions to make sure you are not over seasoning your pasta or that it is too spicy for you.

As you add in all your ingredients, take a spoonful of your pasta water and pour it over your spaghetti to (in the words of the Eataly recipe) "amalgamate the pasta and condiments." Continue mixing until everything looks evenly distributed. And that's it!

Your very own, homemade Eataly dish is ready for you to enjoy. And I must say, it's as good as the real thing. I'm so glad I found this recipe and thankful for how easy it is to recreate at home. This is definitely something that I will be making again and again and again.

Buon appetito!