Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper

The program will not let me give it a rating of less than one fork... I was excited about the apparent ease of this recipe, but I was also concerned that the cheese will not melt smoothly just floating in hot water. I gave it a try anyway. I could not have been more disappointed. The cheese will not melt unless there is fat (that is not me saying it--that is science operating on the cheese). So, I ended up with pasta sitting in pasta water with several large blobs of congealed and stringy cheese. (Luckily this was a family dinner--no company!). When I could not get the cheese to melt, I added cream and butter and, presto, I had an alfredo saue that was fine. A warning however: Do not think that the blobs of cheese will EVER incorporate into a "sauce". Breaking apart the large blobs will end up simply with many small blobs of cheese disseminated throughout the pasta. I am, frankly, surprised that this recipe made it through any testing by people working for your site--any kind of creamy cheese requires fat...

• yellowlab75

• Boston, MA

• 12/27/2016

I had tried a different version of this recipe, not from Epicurious but somewhere else (don't remember) but this version turned out awful. I don't know why. Maybe I did something wrong. I absolutely love simple pasta recipes like this one but this one was not a winner for me.

• rewjaw

• 1/8/2015

This recipe typifies Roman, and indeed Italian, cooking. Is can only succeed if all the ingredients are of the very best quality. The pasta must be excellent, the pecorino must be real Italian high quality pecorino and the pepper corns must be toasted. Any shortcuts will turn this into what some of the reviewers have described..... dry and tasteless...yuck! When made properly, this is a sensory delight; a celebration of delicious simplicity.

• jvh020

• Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• 2/22/2012

This was awesome. Probably the simplest ingredient list I've ever encountered (although Mario Batali had a couple of powerful dishes like this that were almost as simple). The toasting of the peppercorns gave me a COMPLETELY new taste, something I've never experienced. Perfumed the kitchen and living room, and I had questions from my spouse as to what was cooking. And it was only from the toasted pepper! Cheese grated fine using the box grater with the ragged-edged holes. Make sure you aren't timid on the salt in the water, and use a GOOD pasta like De Cecco or at least Barilla. If you don't salt your water sufficiently, taste will suffer greatly. Pasta water should always taste like the sea. This dish is on my permanent serve list!

• computerup

• Sherman Oaks, CA

• 10/3/2011

YUM! just what I wanted. simple, delicous, EASY PEASY! you can grate the cheese while the pasta is cooking and that is the bulk of the work you need to do. Rather than bother with the whole pepper corns crushing them with the pan as the recipe suggests, I heated a small pan, adjusted my pepper grinder to "coarse" and ground the pepper directly into the pan. Then I just shook the pan around with the pepper in it for about 30 seconds until I could really start to smell a stronger pepper flavor (think toasting spices). Worked great. Oh and they are not kidding about the specific grating of the cheese!

• queenjuliette

• seattle, wa

• 6/29/2011

If you use more pasta water (maybe 3/4 cup) with about 2 teaspoons of good olive oil, the cheese mixes in, coats the pasta and it makes it almost creamy. Just add a little at a time till the pasta absorbs the water. Delicious!

• linda8042

• Jacksonville, FL

• 10/5/2009

Not bad, but if you make it, just be prepared for a simply-flavored dish. I imagine having very high quality cheese would make this much better. Watch out for wayward peppercorns getting caught in your throat... cough cough.

• jillyfishfoodie

• Madison, WI

• 5/19/2009

This recipe was good, but did not receive raves from my family. Probably because when they looked at it, they were expecting another dish I make called Spaghetti with browned butter and cheese, which is much richer in flavor. This, however, was very tastey, andI can't imagine anyone thinking it's bland. I wonder if they remembered to salt the pasta cooking water?

• pamalee

• KCMO

• 9/19/2007

Toasting peppercorns takes this from good to great. I used whole- wheat pasta and tossed it with a little basil- infused olive oil before adding the cheese.

• ahm937

• nyc

• 8/25/2007

这个配方生产的真实版本oman dish known as cacio e pepe. Unlike just making pasta and mixing it with cheese and pepper, this recipe produces a distinctive texture and pungent flavor from still-grainy cheese and the bite of bigger pieces of black pepper. If you resist adding olive oil and follow the steps to keep the bowl hot and damp and the pasta as hot as possible, the cheese will melt just enough to coat the strands while leaving some texture. In my experience of eating (both home-made and in Rome) and making this dish, the other important step is to not grate the cheese too finely (i.e., don't use a rasper) because it will then melt too fast and the pasta will clump together. I love this dish and make it often, especially to serve with a veal roast or along side osso buco.

• ACityCook

• New York City

• 1/25/2007

Followed the recipe but did add a splash of olive oil as suggested. Simple but good eating.

• Anonymous

• Concord, CA

• 2/26/2006

I've been using epicurious recipes for several years now. I never make a recipe without reading the comments first. This is the first time I've rated a recipe myself. I have one word for this recipe--YUCK!

• Anonymous

• Nantucket, MA

• 2/4/2006

这道菜非常普通,非常干燥。我有多better results when I simply made plain spaghetti (cooked with enough olive oil to prevent it from sticking together) and topped it with freshly ground black pepper and plenty of shredded romano. The effort involved with all the extra steps described in the recipe just didn't seem worth it to me. It has became one of my favorite easy side dishes.

• Anonymous

• Northern VA

• 8/28/2005

This seemed so plain. I couldn't figure out how to fix it up so I just served small portions to my guests so we could get to the next course.

• Benten

• Alexandria, VA

• 8/16/2005

Easy, basic recipe for a simple dinner. Make sure to use really good cheese! I needed to add a bit more pasta water since it was dry, but overall a subtle, enjoyable dish. Served it w/peas cooked w/dill and bacon.

• Anonymous

• New York, NY

• 7/20/2005