Cacio e Pepe (Ramen Upgrade)

At the beginning of the pandemic, recipes starting popping up for using pantry staples, including ramen. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find ramen for quite a while. Once I did, though, I tried this cacio e pepe recipe that I’d heard about a few months before. (Cacio e pepe literally means cheese and pepper: spoiler alert!)

Make sure you have everything close by when you start. This recipe cooks up quickly, and you don’t want to overcook ramen!

Heat a pot of water to boiling, then add:

4 pkgs. ramen noodles (packets set aside)

Immediately set a timer for 3 minutes, and be ready to drain the noodles as soon as they’re done. Make sure to get pasta water for your sauce before draining the noodles, though!

In a smaller pot, melt and stir together:

4 T. butter

¾ c. pasta water (which you can scoop from the pasta pot while it’s still cooking)

½ c. Parmesan cheese

2 seasoning packets (I like the chicken or creamy chicken flavors. Save the other 2 packets to use as chicken broth base.)

black pepper

When the sauce is done, pour it over the drained noodles and mix it together. Add more Parmesan and pepper to the top before serving.

Cacio e pepe ramen is also delicious with grilled chicken and/or veggies mixed in. Cook them before even starting the noodles because there isn’t time later on!