Cacio e pepe with asparagus

Name: Cacio e pepe with asparagus
Yield: Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main
Cuisine: Italian recipes
Ingredients: 200g spaghetti or pici pasta; 100g butter, cubed; 300g asparagus, trimmed; 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to serve; 100g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated, plus extra to serve

Published: 25 Sep 18
Updated: 19 Jun 24

Test kitchen approved

Cacio e pepe is one of the simplest – and tastiest – pasta dishes you can make. The original version is just three ingredients, cheese, pepper and pasta, but we’ve added asparagus for a seasonal twist.

If you like the look of this, how about our creamy broccoli and bacon spaghetti?

Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main
Hands-on time 20 min

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Ingredients

200g spaghetti or pici pasta
100g butter, cubed
300g asparagus, trimmed
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to serve
100g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated, plus extra to serve

Method

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil over a medium heat. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions or until it still has bite. Drain, reserving one mugful of the cooking liquid.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large deep pan over a low-medium heat and add the asparagus. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes, then add 100ml of the reserved pasta cooking liquid and bring to the boil.
Add the pepper, drained pasta and grated cheese to the pan. Stir well for a minute or so until the cheese melts and forms a rich sauce (add a little more pasta cooking liquid if the sauce is too thick).
Divide among warm bowls and serve straightaway, scattered with salt, extra black pepper and some more grated cheese.

Recipe from May 2018 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

For 4

Calories: 492kcals
Fat: 29.2g (18g saturated)
Protein: 17.4g
Carbohydrates: 37.8g (2.7g sugars)
Fibre: 4.2g
Salt: 0.9g

delicious. tips

This is a take on the famed cacio e pepe pasta dish from Siena in Tuscany.
Pici is a type of thick, hand-rolled pasta. You can buy pici pasta online from souschef.co.uk and amazon.co.uk (or make it fresh yourself).

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Cacio e pepe with asparagus

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