First of all to prepare the cacio e pepe spaghetti, take a large pot and fill it halfway with water which we will bring to a boil. Meanwhile, grate the pecorino and keep some aside for the sauce. Then, let’s add the water that in the meantime will have come to a boil and let’s go to cook the spaghetti. In the meantime, let’s pound the peppercorns in a mortar or with a knife, leaving a few coarser pieces.
In a separate pan we go to toast the pepper over low heat, blend it with about 2 ladles of cooking water and continue to mix, with a wooden spoon, always over low heat.
Drain the spaghetti al dente without throwing the cooking liquid and move them to the pan. We finish cooking in the pan by adding, as needed, a few tablespoons of cooking water and stirring constantly with the tongs; add more water when the bottom of the pan is dry.
Prepare the cream
Then prepare the pecorino cream by adding a ladle of hot cooking water to the grated pecorino and mixing everything vigorously and preferably with a whisk. The consistency must be pasty and not creamy.
If the pasta is not yet ready, keep the cream in a bain-marie on the pot of hot water, always stirring with a whisk, in this way the temperature will be similar to that of the pasta and will blend much better.
When the spaghetti have finished cooking, remove the pan from the heat, add the pecorino cream and mix everything well with the help of tongs or forks. If we want a thicker cream, add a little pecorino cheese, instead if we want it more liquid, add a little cooking water. The spaghetti with cacio e pepe are now ready to be served covered with a shower of pecorino cheese and a generous grinding of pepper.