“This is an interpretation of traditional cacio e pepe,” says Mauro Secondi — the pasta master behind Pastificio Secondi, a pasta shop and restaurant near the outskirts of Rome. Secondi’s expertise is being tested in this episode of Dining on a Dime: Rome, as we’re tasking him with teaching me, a total newcomer, the art of pasta making.
Pasta is one of Rome’s finest and proudest traditions, and one of the Eternal City’s most sacred iterations is cacio e pepe — a traditional pasta made simply of pecorino Romano and black pepper. Across Rome, cacio e pepe is typically served with long and skinny pastas like tonnarelli, chitarra, and spaghetti. But at Pastificio Secondi, Secondi is teaching me how to make cacio e pepe raviolo — or at least his version of the two icons.
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