Fabio's Kitchen: Episode 8, "Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe" 

Comfort food always tastes better on nights when the weather is cold, rainy or snowy.

They taught you the right way, here's how a true italian makes it: Once the water's boiling, salt it and add spaghetti; crush a good amount of pepper in a mortar, then put it in a pan and toast it for a little bit WITHOUT ANYTHING ADDED, it depends on the smell, you'll feel it when it's perfectly toasted, anyway it's usually about 60/90 seconds, also move it a little bit while toasting. Once it's done, add a good amount of water from the pasta, and go for the max fire, cause you need to get the starch out of it. If the spaghetti need 10 mins to cook, then you're gonna remove them from the water at like half the time, so let's say 5 minutes earlier, to put them in the pan with water+pepper, DON'T THROW THE BOILING WATER, and start adding it to the pan, the pasta really need to swim in it, as it will release all its starch and create a cool and creamy sauce. Keep stirring the pasta as it will help starch coming out, and now this needs a little bit of experience: when you feel like the remaining water will be enough for the pasta to be cooked AL DENTE, then stop adding it, and just let the remaining water evaporate and get creamier as the pasta finishes cooking. Once you're done with the pasta, while keeping it a little watery, put it out of the fire and stir it a little bit so it gets a less hot, then you can add pecorino on top of it, go for a good amount and just keep stirring until all of the water gets absorbed and so does the pecorino. You can still balance either with more water or with more cheese as you keep stirring it. Done! No butter or anything else, just pasta, pecorino, pepper, water and salt. Sorry for any mistake, I'm italian!

Arthur Bondarelli I just did it following your recipe (not Fabio’s half a pound of butter and stock nonsense) and it was a success !! Grazie mille

Arthur Bondarelli I like to quickly heat half the pepper in a bit of olive oil first -this gives me a slightly different pepper taste from the fresh pepper I add at the end-set it aside after a minute of cooking and then add a bit of pasta water and just a smidge of butter to help emulsify. then toss in the pasta, cheese and the rest of the pepper. Never had lumps and a good creamy sauce, cheesy with two strains of pepper. I would like to omit the butter like you but I think if I did the sauce would not hold. I just use a tiny pat anyway. But this guy’s broth and tons of butter with such a small amount of pepper look awful. Maybe I m wrong.

Robert Hill For italians, oil and or butter are the worst mistakes when making Cacio e Pepe. You should try and get a creamy sauce without those: its trickier but its the right way. :)

I think in the video that was done years before he did not use broth. Might have been under Yahoo- Ciao Chow

I totally agee. He's a funny dude.

cooking pasta with butter is the ultimate crime!

Ariana Moran gricia

larsthegunslinger Don't Worry, he won't. He's got a life, unlike you.

Lui ha detto che è grana padano:-)

Grazie mille!

for the best cacio e pepe you should use PECORINO

You do not have to follow a certain recipe, just follow your own taste... But if you're doing a video of a certain traditional recipe, with fixed ingredients, you just can't change them altogether. Experimenting with new recipes doesn't imply not using the to terms for the existing recipes

gnamorfra qed

He's not. Neither are Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain or plenty of other fans of the classic dish. Examples: 1. Here's Batali's recipe: www.mariobatali.com/recipes/cacio-e-pepe/ (note the six tablespoons of butter) 2. Here's Bourdain enjoying his favorite cacio e pepe at Ristorante Roma Sparita on Rome's Piazza di Santa Cecila: www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-anthony-bourdains-favorite-cacio-e-pepe-2015-7 In other words, everyone can relax...right?

no, theres nothing wrong with butter in it

absolutely si si

It's like blending MD 20-20 with Thunder Chicken. Somehow it just works. Right?

jeff h 😂😂😂

LOL. I remember Luciano Pavarotti saying this was his favorite dish every day just before he died.

breckandy Maybe was his favorite but for sure not this dish; the name says it all Cacio (Pecorino cheese) and Pepe (black Pepper), Pasta water to be added to create the creamy sauce and nothing else (butter, olive oil, garlic.. nothing).

You don't eat the entire pound of pasta.......

This is one of the funniest comments on this entire site

lol yeah because we cant enjoy things in moderation....

That's how americans eat "italian pasta". He should be hit with a spatula for using butter!!!!

I agree my italian friend!

Try it. Amazingly good. Fabiano's version if not traditional.

c'ha messo pure il brodo di pollo sto stronzo😂

No burro Cacio e pepe Pecorino Romano e pepe Nero mamma Mia Grazie mille

I was thinking Ben Affleck with a beard.

He's about as italian as my dog's ass.. he just butchered the most original ancient italian recipe

Angelo Mallardo No where close. For starters, it doesn't have broth or butter in it.

TeacherTeacher i know, i said it’s not cacio e pepe. although, it’s not a bad pasta dish, just not a cacio e pepe

Angelo, please explain.

Superdog Palermo I know you didn't ask me, but the sauce (traditional Roman) is exactly what it states: cheese and pepper.

Superdog Palermo exactly, cacio e pepe is made only with pecorino cheese and pepper, no broth, butter or olive oil