Cacio e Pepe Pizza
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This no-frills Cacio e pepe pizza is simple yet so delicious. The golden crust topped with gooey mozzarella, pecorino cheese, and freshly ground black pepper is amazing!
A terrific Italian white pizza for your next pizza night.
I adore pizza, especially white pizza, and I’ve shared quite a few recipes, from this goat cheese pizza to this outstanding lemon pizza.
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Today, I’m back with a fantastic cacio e pepe pizza that is anything but fancy. It’s another Italian recipe that proves that simple is best.
This pizza recipe is inspired by the classic Italian cacio e pepe pasta, which uses starchy pasta water to melt the cheese and create a creamy, emulsified sauce. The Italian chef Stefano Callegari used the same trick to create his popular cacio e pepe pizza. He had the idea to add water to the pizza topping by placing ice cubes in the center of the dough before baking.
Well, I’m sure the result was great, but my cacio e pizza recipe today is WAY more straightforward, and it packs AMAZING flavor (without the pasta water!).
Firstly, I’ve used my stand mixer recipe, which makes a perfectly pliable dough and terrific, artisanal crust. But if you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use this easy no-knead recipe or your favorite dough.
For the topping, you don’t need extra tricks as the fresh, creamy mozzarella, grated pecorino cheese, and a generous amount of black pepper makes an outstanding combination. Trust me, bake until deliciously golden, crispy, and bubbly and you’ll be in pizza heaven.
Now, I am officially declaring this cacio e pepe pizza the pizza of the autumn!
List of the ingredients
- Pizza dough (2 servings)
- Mozzarella cheese
- Pecorino cheese
- Black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
How to make cacio e pepe pizza
(Note: this is a quick description; the full recipe is at the bottom of the page.)
- Dough. I’ve used my stand mixer pizza dough, but your store-bought or homemade pizza dough will also work fine.
Note: All the steps to make a stand mixer dough are explained here, which saves me from having to write a super long post.
- If you follow my dough recipe, you’ll have a soft, pliable dough. Work on a lightly floured surface. Split the dough into two halves and fold them.
- Topping. Now you have two dough balls. Stretch each one into a circle, and add the cacio e pepe pizza topping – just 3 ingredients!
- Bake one at a time in the preheated oven (450°F/230°C) until golden and crispy! Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil for extra flavor, and serve. Yum!
Recipe notes
Ingredients for a cacio e pepe pizza
Pizza dough: You will need approximately 18oz/500 grams of pizza dough to make 2 round pizzas (about 10 inches/25 cm ⌀ in diameter). Below are my go-to pizza dough recipes.
- Stand Mixer Recipe: The dough is ready in 15 minutes and requires 3 hours for proofing. It’s easy to work with, very pliable, and makes a Neapolitan pizza that also works in a pizza oven. It makes 21oz/600 grams of dough.
- No-knead recipe: The dough takes only a few minutes to prepare and requires a proofing time of 1 hour. It’s quick and super easy to make, although it can be sticky due to its high hydration. You won’t need any special equipment—just a bowl and a spoon. This recipe yields approximately 400 grams of dough, which is enough for two smaller pizzas.
Cheese: The Italian, hard, salty Pecorino Romano cheese, made with sheep’s milk, is essential for a cacio e pepe combination. You can find it in the fridge aisle, next to the Parmesan cheese. And since we all want a gooey, creamy topping that complements the savory pecorino and the fiery black pepper perfectly, we use mozzarella. I prefer fresh mozzarella over the shredded option; however, the shredded low-moisture option works too, if you like it.
Black pepper: The star of the show! I recommend using freshly ground black pepper, which is superior to store-bought, pre-ground pepper. It’s vibrant and packs plenty of aroma. I don’t recommend adding salt before baking, as you don’t know how salty the cheese is. You can add a pinch of salt at the end if needed.
Recipe variations
This pizza with cacio e pepe is perfect on its own. Simple yet amazingly delicious. However, if you fancy a twist, my recommendations are sun-dried tomatoes, fresh figs, arugula, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, or some sliced garlic. If you’re not a vegetarian, I would also recommend some slices of cured Parma ham for an authentic Italian pizza!
Pizza night, anyone?
Check out these delicious veggie pizzas and 25 YUMMY pizza toppings or Focaccia toppings. They are all perfect for your Friday night!
Here are a few of our favorites:
- Pumpkin pizza
- Olive pizza
- Bruschetta pizza
- Pizza with eggplants
- Fresh tomato pizza
- Artichoke pizza
- Quick Caprese pizza
- Spinach pizza
- Sun-dried tomato pizza
If you make this Cacio e Pepe pizza recipe or have a question, please let me know by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you and get your feedback!
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Cacio e Pepe pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough
- 1 stand mixer dough (recipe link below), or your fav dough
Mozzarella topping
- 6 oz (170 grams) fresh mozzarella packed in water (or shredded low moisture mozzarella)*
- 5-6 tablespoon Pecorino cheese, grated
- freshly ground black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Instructions
Pizza dough
- Follow the stand mixer pizza dough through step 8, including shaping the pizza and preheating the oven to 230 ℃/450℉.
Cacio e pepe topping
- Note: if you use the stand mixer dough, you can split it into portions that make 2 round pizzas (about 10 inches/25 cm each). You can bake them using parchment paper and a baking sheet, or a pizza peel dusted with semolina flour or cornmeal if you wish.
- Shape the dough: Use your fingertips or your knuckles, gently stretch the dough outwards, rotating it to increase its size and to create a circular shape (approx 10 inches/25 cm in diameter) and leaving about 1 inch of dough untouched around the edge. Try to keep the air bubbles.
- Add the topping (divided for two pizzas): If using fresh mozzarella in water, slice or dice it and place it on a kitchen towel or kitchen paper. Add another folded piece of paper towel on top, pat it dry to absorb excess moisture, let it dry for at least 10 minutes. Finally add mozzarella and goat cheese slices evenly to the pizza, sprinkle evenly the grated pecorino cheese and add quite a few cracs of freshly ground pepper. Be generous with the black pepper – you'll want to taste it.
- Bake the pizza: If using a pizza stone, when the oven is hot, use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake one pizza at a time (this is impportant for a better crust!). Bake each pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, approximately 12 minutes. But each oven is different, so keep an eye on it (e.g., in a forced fan oven, it will take about 8-10 minutes).
- Serve: allow the pizza to cool for a minute or two before serving. Slice, serve immediately, idealy with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
