White Pepper Cacio e Pepe with Lemon
White pepper, lemon, basil, and garbanzo beans make my White Pepper Cacio e Pepe with Lemon an untraditional take on this Roman classic.
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Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp sea salt
For the sauce:
- 3 Tbsp butter
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup Parmesan, freshly grated, preferably with a Microplane grater
- ½ cup Pecorino, freshly grated, preferably with a Microplane grater
- ½ cup pasta water
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp basil, chiffonade
Everything else:
- 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained
- Additional basil chiffonade and Parmesan, for serving
Instructions
Make the sauce
- Add the white pepper and ¼ tsp salt to a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low, and toast the white pepper for 30 seconds, until lightly browned.
- Now add the butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Stir until the butter melts, and the butter, olive oil, and white pepper combine.
Add the cheese, olive oil, and lemon
- Keeping the pan on medium-low, add one third of the Pecorino and one third of the Parmesan, and stir to combine.
- Now add another Tbsp of olive oil. Stir, and add another third of the Pecorino, and another third of the Parmesan.
- Turn the heat down to low, and add the remaining olive oil, ¼ tsp salt, and the rest of the Pecorino and Parmesan.
- Keep stirring until the cheese is melted, and mostly incorporated. Don’t worry if the cheese clumps at this point, it will all smooth out when we add the pasta.
- Turn the heat off, and add 2 Tbsp lemon juice. Set the sauce aside, and make the pasta.
Make the pasta
- To a large pot, add 1 tsp sea salt and 4 cups water. Bring the water to a boil, then add the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti until it's about ¾ of the way cooked through, about 9-11 minutes. Stir the spaghetti almost constantly to ensure that it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Drain the spaghetti, reserve the pasta water
- Once the spaghetti is ¾ of the way cooked through, drain any remaining pasta water, reserving ½ cup.
Add the spaghetti to the sauce
- Add the drained spaghetti to the pan with the sauce, and turn the heat on to medium.
- With tongs or a spoon and fork, toss the spaghetti into the sauce until coated. Now add the reserved ½ cup pasta water. Keep tossing for about 2 minutes, until the sauce gets creamy and completely coats the spaghetti, and the spaghetti is cooked al dente, about 2 minutes.
Add the garbanzo beams, basil, and lemon juice
- Turn the heat off, and stir in the drained garbanzo beans, basil, and remaining 1 Tbsp lemon juice.
- If your skillet is not big enough to hold everything, you can transfer the spaghetti and sauce to the large pot you cooked the spaghetti in, then toss in the garbanzo beans, basil, and lemon juice.
Serve and enjoy!
- Serve immediately, with additional basil and Parmesan sprinkled over each serving, if desired.
Notes
This dish is vegetarian, and can be gluten-free if made with gluten-free spaghetti.