If you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time, you’re well aware that Pat loves his black pepper. A lot. From biscuits and gravy to coney dogs, he puts it on only about everything. This got me thinking about the more long-used pasta recipe, cacio e pepe. Which is basically pasta, cheese and black pepper. However I wanted a creamy pasta sauce, so I meshed the familiar recipe with the velvety sauce of carbonara.

In this method, hot pasta is tossed with whisked eggs, lots of pecorino and black pepper with a little olive oil. It’s truly that simple.

It’s a luxurious yet rustic pasta that gather roughly 30 minutes to make.

here’s what you need to cook this Cacio e Pepe Carbonara:

1 pound spaghetti pasta noodles
4 large eggs
2-1/2 cups pecorino Romano cheese
2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil.

First, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, finely grated about 9 ounces of pecorino romano cheese and add it to a large mixing bowl along with 2 cups of the cheese, black pepper and olive oil. I know you see 6 eggs here, but it should be 4. I got a little carried away cracking eggs.

Next whisk until the eggs are completely incorporated.

Once the pasta has cooked to al dente, use tongs to transfer the hot pasta from the water and directly into the egg and cheese mixture.

Tossing the cacio e pepe to combine. The hot pasta will end up cooking the egg and melting the cheese, thus creating a saucy sauce. 😉

Serve this Cacio e Pepe with the reserved cheese, extra black pepper and forks.