Forget bolognese, and cast carbonara aside. When you\u2019re in Rome, the first pasta you need to try is cacio e pepe.<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is Roman cooking at its best. Just take a handful of ingredients, cook them with love, and you get one delicious dish. Cacio e pepe<\/em> means \u201ccheese and pepper\u201d in Italian, and that\u2019s basically the recipe, too! It\u2019s one of the most typical foods in Rome<\/a>, and one that has to be at the top of your foodie bucket list. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The secret to this simple dish is a long, thin pasta noodle (usually bucatini, but spaghetti works too). The extra surface area drags up even more of the tasty sauce, made from an emulsion of pecorino romano cheese and starchy pasta water. The sweet and piquant flavor of the freshly cracked black pepper is the cherry on top!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Keep it Simple<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The best Roman pasta dishes are super simple to make. Cacio e pepe<\/em>, carbonara<\/a> and pasta alla gricia<\/em> all use only a handful of local ingredients to make something that tastes way more delicious than the sum of their parts!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For shepherds caring for their flocks outside of Rome, cacio e pepe<\/em> was the perfect way to keep hunger at bay on long treks from home. They would combine their sheeps\u2019 cheese with a few grinds of black pepper, and cook up the dried pasta. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And don\u2019t be confused by the creamy sauce! There\u2019s no cream in the recipe. The silky smoothness comes from using a touch of the starchy pasta water; it melts the cheese and binds it to the pasta! <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Note<\/strong>: Classic cacio e pepe<\/em> doesn\u2019t use butter, but we think it makes the sauce extra rich and silky (and delicious!).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Visiting Rome?<\/strong> Here’s where to eat the best <\/a>cacio e pepe<\/a><\/em> in the city!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n