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Spinach Cacio e Pepe is basically a grown-up version of mac and cheese! Experience the mouthwatering flavors of Rome in less than 30 minutes.
This is not a Cacio e Pepe recipe for the purists. I’ll start with that disclaimer right off the bat.
It’s a little bit healthier, but still incredibly easy and delicious, so I hope that makes up for the few liberties I couldn’t help but take with the recipe.
Cacio e Pepe (Cacio = Cheese. Pepe = Pepper.) is a modern Roman dish with only three ingredients: pasta, pecorino cheese, and black pepper.
I’m still working on being that much of a minimalist. Okay?
In all honesty, I’m a sucker for cheesy pasta with lots of green veggies, so I fully support the addition of a few generous handfuls of spinach and a cup of green peas from the freezer.
Plus a few cloves of garlic.
I mean, come on. What’s pasta without a little garlic?
I’m still sticking with the minimalist origins of Cacio e Pepe as best as I can.
There are still less than 10 ingredients and you can easily prep and cook the whole thing in 30 minutes.
It’s the best thing to make when there isn’t much in the fridge but you’re in the mood for comfort food and want to make use of what you already have.
How to Make Spinach Cacio e Pepe:
All good pasta starts with a pot of boiling salted water. Don’t skip that step!
The cooking liquid, in this case, is also used in the sauce that coats the pasta, so make sure you reserve a cup (or more) before you drain the noodles from the pot.
To make the sauce, stir olive oil, garlic, and a hefty amount of black pepper in a skillet. The black pepper gives this pasta a good amount of spicy flavor, which I love, but you can always cut the amount in half if you prefer something milder.
After you heat up the garlic and pepper, stir in the pasta, spinach, peas, and some of the cooking water. Then stir in the cheese and toss until the pasta is fully coated in peppery sauce.
You can always add more of the pasta cooking water if it seems too dry.
As always, try to taste and adjust as you go!
📖 Recipe
Spinach Cacio e Pepe
Bucatini noodles with spinach and green peas coated in pecorino romano cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.
1cupfreshly grated vegetarian pecorino romano cheese(see note)
¼cupfreshly grated vegetarian parmesan cheese
Optional garnish:
Grated vegetarian pecorino or parmesan cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in bucatini pasta and cook 6 minutes, or until 2 minutes before al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water, drain the pasta, and set aside.
Stir olive oil, garlic, and black pepper in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in cooked pasta, baby spinach, frozen green peas, and ¾ cup of the pasta cooking water. Cook 2 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Add pecorino romano and parmesan cheese and stir until pasta is coated in sauce. If it seems too dry, gradually stir in more pasta cooking water as needed.
Transfer to pasta bowls and garnish with additional grated cheese and cracked black pepper if desired.
Notes
Many parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses are made with animal-derived rennet. Choose vegetarian parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses, which are made with plant-derived rennet, if this is important to you. If romano cheese isn’t available, substitute with additional grated parmesan. You can also use all parmesan cheese to give the dish a less sharp, milder flavor.
Use ½ teaspoon black pepper (instead of a full teaspoon) for a milder flavor if desired.
The best side dishes to serve with Cacio e Pepe are turkey meatballs, Caprese salad, shrimp scampi, grilled red snapper, grilled mushrooms, avocado salad, cornbread, Parmesan crusted walleye, chicken wings, beef tenderloin, garlic bread, bruschetta, sauteed spinach, Italian sausage, and roasted vegetables.
Cacio e pepe is traditionally made from black pepper, aged Pecorino Romano cheese, spaghetti or tonnarelli pasta, and, most importantly, pasta cooking water. Authentic cacio e pepe does not include butter or oil, but we're willing to break a few rules for flavor.
Traditionally, cacio e pepe (pronounced: kaa-chee-ow ee peh-pay) is made with just three ingredients: aged pecorino Romano cheese, freshly ground black pepper, and pasta, usually spaghetti; plus the starchy water from cooking the noodles. You don't have to go to Rome to enjoy cacio e pepe.
The internet loves an only-three-ingredient recipe. This (which makes Cacio e Pepe deceptively simple) and the cheese + carbs combination are essential parts of the secret of its media success, along with the fact that it can be made anywhere in the world with any pepper and any cheese.
But it is extremely hard to execute well because you need to control the heat. The cheese will become stringy if you heat up your pan too much (above 70 °C or 158 °F). I tested all the methods, so you do not need to! Cacio e Pepe is rare in restaurants because it is hard to serve warm without the corn starch trick.
Classic versions call for just pasta, salted water, freshly ground pepper, and Pecorino Romano, a Roman sheep's milk cheese. Ours tosses a bit of Grana Padano or Parmesan into the mix for a more rounded cheese flavor that melds warmth, nuttiness, and sharpness.
Add pepper and cook ('bloom'), until fragrant and toasted. Use tongs to pull pasta into the pan (this way you are reserving all the pasta water), then add ½ cup pasta water. Using a wooden spoon, stir the pasta, using the pasta as a whisk to emulsify the butter and pasta water into a sauce.
Elbow grease. The creaminess of Italian pasta dishes is usually the result of stirring. Add your pasta to the sauce or condiment - cacio e pepe in your case - with some of the water the pasta boiled in. Stir as you never stirred before and the result will be creamy.
Pecorino Romano is a hard, Italian sheep's milk cheese. It has sharp, rich nutty flavor, making it the perfect cheese for this simple pasta dish. If you don't have it or can't find it Parmigiano-Reggiano is a totally acceptable alternative.
Ingredients. WATER, DURUM WHEAT SEMOLINA, PECORINO ROMANO CHEESE (SHIP'S MILK, SALT, ANIMAL RENNET, CHEESE CULTURES), MILK, WHEAT FLOUR, CREAM, BUTTER (MILK, NATURAL FLAVOR), GROUND BLACK PEPPER, SALT. Find out how your wellness data and product content can elevate the customer experience and convert more shoppers!
Cacio e pepe means 'cheese and pepper' in several central Italian dialects. In keeping with its name, the dish contains grated pecorino romano and black pepper, together with tonnarelli or spaghetti. All the ingredients keep well for a long time, which made the dish practical for shepherds without fixed abode.
Traditionally, Cacio e Pepe depended on the starch in the pasta water to act as the emulsifier and thickener of the pasta sauce. While the cornstarch gel supplants the need for starchy pasta water, using starchy pasta water certainly helps.
You can complement any pasta with a side of chicken breast, skirt steak, shrimp, or grilled salmon to create the ideal meal. Pair your pasta with a smooth glass of wine and a few empanadas, and you have the makings of the perfect Argentinian meal!
Seafood – If you like fish, salmon is a healthy choice for adding in protein. It also features omega 3 fats. Check out our salmon recipes. Eggs – Eggs are an exceptional sources of protein and easy to supplement in to meals.
It is typically served on spaghetti, as it is in our frozen Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe. But now, we've delivered the flavor of this traditional sauce in an unexpected form: ravioli!
Introduction: My name is Pres. Lawanda Wiegand, I am a inquisitive, helpful, glamorous, cheerful, open, clever, innocent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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