Cacio E Pepe Pizza Recipe

Nothing hits the spot quite like homemade pizza. While it's nice to go out to eat and order a hot and steamy 'za or get it delivered right to your door, there's just something about homemade pizza that tastes incredible. Recipe developer Kristen Carli came up with this excellent recipe for cacio e pepe pizza, and trust us when we tell you that it hits the spot. "I love cacio e repe," Carlie raves. "Cacio e pepe is typically a pasta dish with black pepper and cheese. This rendition is in pizza form," Carli says. Wow, you learn something new, every day, right? 

The great part about Carli's take on this pizza is that she uses store-bought dough, which makes the process incredibly simple. The recipe also requires just a few ingredients, making it both easy and affordable. Carli says she loves this recipe because of how easy it is: "I love this dish because it is simple and delicious. It is full of flavor and incredibly easy." 

Keep reading to find out how to make this delightful pizza dish. 

The first step in this recipe is to gather all of the necessary items to throw it together. For starters, you will need some store-bought pizza crust, which makes your job pretty easy. In addition, you will need a cup of olive oil and some grated parmesan as well as pecorino romano cheese. Last but not least, add black pepper to your list. If you're lucky, you may already have some of these ingredients at home, which will save you a trip to the store.

Now, let's roll up our sleeves and get down to business.

Since the pizza will be cooking in the oven, the first order of business is to preheat your oven to 425 F. That will get it nice and hot and ready for your pizza when you're ready to throw it in. Make sure you do this ahead of time so you don't have to wait for the oven to heat up after you've already prepped the pizza. In fact, since the process of putting the pizza together takes such little time, it's a good idea to take this step before even getting your ingredients out.

Once the oven is good to go, it's time to tend to the dough. Remember, for this recipe, we're using store-bought dough, which will make the prep a lot easier on you. All you need to do is grab a baking sheet and stretch the dough to fit it. "Since the dough is store-bought, be sure to stretch it out to fit the pan," Carli says. "I used a tube of pizza dough, so all I had to do was unroll it. If you are using store-bought dough in a ball, be sure to roll it out using a rolling pin."

Now that you have a nice dough base, it's time to add the toppings to the pizza. First, take out your olive oil and drizzle it on top of the pizza crust. Try to do this as evenly as possible so that each piece of pizza has a great olive oil base. After the olive oil, it's time to start layering the cheese on top. Start with two tablespoons of parmesan followed by two tablespoons of pecorino romano. Then, sprinkle black pepper over the top. The pizza already looks good enough to eat, but there's still another step left! 

Once you have all of the toppings layered on the pizza, stick it in the preheated oven. Set your timer for 10 minutes, and let the pizza bake. "Be sure not to burn the pizza. Keep an eye on it," Carli says.

Once the timer goes off, remove the pizza from the oven and top it with your remaining olive oil and cheese. "I love this served with marinara sauce for dipping or with a large caesar salad and grilled chicken," Carli adds. "Leftovers keep well in an airtight bag in the fridge for up to five days." Now, let's dig in!