I think I’ve made this Foolproof Cacio e Pepe once before, but I only had Parmesan on hand so it doesn’t really count.

This recipe has you make a paste with the cheese and pepper, and then toss it with the hot pasta and a little bit of pasta water. I read some of the comments before diving in, and saw several folks who said it turned out gloppy and the cheese didn’t coat the spaghetti. Deb says that’s likely due to adding too much pasta water when tossing the pasta with the cheese paste, so I made a note to be careful at that step.

Pasta tends to cook fast on my stove, so rather than try to make the cheese paste while the pasta boiled, I did that first. I grated the cheese on my box grater and used my full-size food processor, but I think if I were to make this again I’d try it in the mini. I’d probably need to add the cheese in a couple of batches, but I think it would be easier to get it really smooth. I was worried about how much pepper to add, and had trouble telling how “sparkly” it was due to the intensity of the cheese. I ended up using about 35 grinds and I think that was about right. In general I’d err on the side of not enough, because you can always add more at the table.

When it came time to drain the pasta, I lifted it out of the water with tongs and deposited it into a colander. When tossing everything together, I ended up using all the cheese paste and 1/3 cup of pasta water, though I think that was maybe a tad too much. I’d start small with the pasta water, say 1/4 cup, and then add in splashes after that. I think how much you need will be very dependent on how smooth your cheese paste is, and how smooth or rough your pasta is. I used my biggest glass bowl, which gave me lots of room to toss and swish. Don’t shortchange yourself on how much room you give yourself to toss it all together, that tossing action is where your sauce will form.

This turned out well and my hubby really liked it, though I was a little less sold. Deb calls for aged Pecorino Romano, which was a little confusing to me. All Pecorino Romano (including the store brand I used) is aged 5 months, and I wonder if I’d like the flavor better if I used one aged a bit longer. Anyway, I made a full recipe and served it with small side salads, and we ate everything in one meal. If you served a protein with this, or a bigger salad, you could definitely stretch to three portions, possibly four.