Cacio e Pepe pizza
Cacio e pepe pizza is a no-frills Italian white pizza that is simple and amazingly delicious. A crispy crust topped with creamy mozzarella, savory pecorino cheese, and a ton of fiery black pepper is an out-of-this-world combination.The recipe is for 2 servings (10 inches/25 cm Ø each).
Servings: 2
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!
Notes
How do you measure flour? I use both US cups and grams. The cups of flour are leveled, which means you must fill the measuring cup all the way to the top, allowing the flour to flow over slightly. Then, use the back of a knife to level the top off. However, a digital scale is an excellent kitchen tool that provides a more accurate weight measurement.
Cacio e pepe pizza leftovers: Wrap leftover pizza tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat the pizza leftovers in a preheated oven (400°F/200°C) and bake for about 8 minutes, or until warmed through, crispy, and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!