Cacio e Pepe Risotto

Cheesy and comforting Cacio e Pepe Risotto! All the flavours of a classic Cacio e Pepe pasta in risotto form, made with pecorino cheese and plenty of black pepper. It's not only good but easy too!

If you love Cacio e Pepe pasta (cheese and pepper) you'll love this risotto version! We've taken all the good cheesy, peppery goodness and mixed it through warm and comforting risotto rice.

It's SO good!

We have stayed pretty loyal to the original Cacio e Pepe flavours so there is no garlic, no onion and no wine, things you would normally expect in a risotto.

For richness, we like to add a knob of butter in at the end but other than that we love the classic Cacio e Pepe taste this risotto has.

Ingredients – what you need

The ingredients are so simple all you need is arborio or carnaroli risotto rice, chicken stock, parmesan cheese, pecorino or provolone cheese, black pepper, salt and butter or olive oil.

How to make Cacio e Pepe Risotto – step by step

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Once hot add the rice and toast it lightly for 1 minute (photo 1).

Add a few ladles of stock until the rice is covered, stir until the rice absorbs the liquid, and add another ladle or two. Continue adding the stock, stirring and letting the rice absorb it until all the stock is used up. The rice should be cooked through, thick and creamy (photo 2).

Add the cheese, pepper, around 1 tbsp butter (optional), and a good pinch of salt and stir into the risotto until melted. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Serve (photos 3 & 4).

Recipe Tips

• Additional flavours – we've kept the flavours in this risotto as close to the classic Cacio e Pepe pasta as possible but if you want you could add in chopped garlic, shallots or onion and a splash of white wine before adding the rice.
• Butter – around 1 tbsp of butter added at the end gives the risotto a nice rich and good flavour that we love but it is optional.
• Stock – you can use either chicken or vegetable stock although we find chicken stock gives more flavour to this recipe. keep it warm in a pot as you add it in.

What's the best type of rice to use?

The most common types of rice available for making risotto is Arborio and Carnaroli because they are short, fat and starchy. Stay away from long-grain rice when making risotto.

How can we store leftovers?

Leftovers will keep well covered in the fridge for 1-2 days. You can also shape leftover risotto into balls, dredge them in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and deep fry to make arancini rice ball.

More good risotto recipes you might like

• Butternut Squash Risotto With Thyme
• Risotto alla Valdostana (Fontina Cheese Risotto)
• Simple Saffron Risotto
• Creamy Mushroom Risotto
• Creamy Tomato Risotto

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 1.5 cups arborio or carnaroli rice ((270g))
• 5 cups chicken stock ((1200ml))
• 1 cup pecorino (freshly grated (70g))
• ½ cup parmesan (freshly grated (40g))
• 1-2 tsp black pepper
• 1-2 tbsp butter (optional)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt (to season)

Method

1. Keep the stock warm in a pot.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Once hot add the rice and toast it lightly for 1 minute.

3. Add a few ladles of stock until the rice is just covered, stir until the rice absorbs the liquid and add another ladle or two. Continue adding the stock, stirring and letting the rice absorb it until all the stock is used up. The rice should be cooked through, thick and creamy.

4. Add the cheese, pepper, around 1 tbsp butter (optional) and good pinch of salt and stir into the risotto until melted. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Serve.

Kitchen notes

• Additional flavours we've kept the flavours in this risotto as close to the classic Cacio e Pepe pasta as possible but if you want you could add in chopped garlic, shallots or onion and a splash of white wine before adding the rice.
• Butter around 1 tbsp of butter added at the end gives the risotto a nice rich and good flavour that we love but it is optional.
• Stock you can use either chicken or vegetable stock although we find chicken stock gives more flavour to this recipe. keep it warm in a pot as you add it in.
• Leftovers leftovers will keep well covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.