Pasta Database

Lazio · cheese · thin

Best pasta for cacio e pepe

Pecorino Romano and black pepper emulsified with starchy pasta water. A creamy film that clings to a rough long strand.

Region
Lazio
Base
Cheese
Texture
Thin
Shapes that hold it
4
Classic plates
3
Cacio e pepe, served on pasta

What it asks of a shape

Cacio e pepe is a thin cheese-based sauce. It wants a long strand, so the sauce coats every turn of the fork, a rough bronze-die surface, which holds an oil or a thin sauce, and a square-cut strand with edges that hold a sauce. The ranking below scores every profiled shape on those traits, then the shape's own sauce notes break the ties.

What it is

Main ingredients
Tonnarelli or spaghetti, pecorino romano, black pepper
Place of origin
Lazio

Cacio e pepe is a pasta dish typical of Lazio, Italy. It contains grated pecorino romano and black pepper with tonnarelli or spaghetti. Achieving a smooth and creamy texture during preparation requires special attention, as the cheese is prone to becoming lumpy.

4 shapes that hold it

Spaghettoni, uncooked, on linen

Spaghettoni

Long strands · Campania

A thick strand releases more starch and stays firm longer, so it suits the Roman cheese sauces that need starchy water to come together.

Tonnarelli, uncooked, on linen

Tonnarelli

Long strands · Lazio

A porous square strand grips a cheese emulsion like nothing else, which is why Roman trattorias serve tonnarelli cacio e pepe.

Bucatini, uncooked, on linen

Bucatini

Long strands · Lazio

The bore takes in sauce, so bucatini wants a sauce with more body than a strand normally takes: amatriciana, a gricia, a tomato with guanciale, a loose ragu.

Spaghetti, uncooked, on linen

Spaghetti

Long strands · Campania

A strand has no cavity and no ridges, so a sauce must coat it.

Classic plates with cacio e pepe

Every dish in the shape profiles that names this sauce, with the shape it is made on.

Every classic plate, by shape and sauce

Sources

  • The ranking and the sauce notes are our editorial judgement, from the traits in each shape record. See the method.
  • Cacio e pepe, Wikipedia (summary, ingredients, origin), CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q5016033.