Cacio e pepe
My vegan version of cacio e pepe is all you ever asked for! It is creamy, peppery and cheesy just like the traditional dairy one. It comes together in less than 30 minutes and is your new go to pasta dish.
What is cacio e pepe?
Cacio e pepe is a cheesy pasta dish from Rome. It literally translates as ‘cheese’ and ‘pepper’. And in fact it is just that. Grated cheese combined with pasta water and freshly cracked black pepper make it into a delicious creamy sauce that is usually served with spaghetti. My version is cashew based and I served it with shell pasta. I love to serve this with shell pasta so there is some sauce that gets in the shell which makes it even better.
This recipe serves 4 people
Ingredients
300-400 gr of shell pasta, or any other kind of pasta you want
1 cup/140gr of raw cashews
2 cups/480ml of water
1 cup/80gr of grated plant based parmesan, My favorite brand is gondino
1 small clove of garlic
2-4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp of salt
How to
Start by boiling some water for the pasta. Cook the pasta al dente and reserve a cup from the pasta water before draining.
Combine cashews, water, parmesan, garlic, pepper and salt in to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Add the cashew sauce to a saucepan over low heat. Add the pasta and some of the pasta water.
Let it heat through and stir so the pasta gets coated with the sauce. Add more or less pasta water according to how thick you want to sauce to be. I like my sauce a little runnier cause it will thicken up while eating.
Serve hot with some extra grated parmesan and black pepper.
Buon apetito!
