Cacio e pepe is one of Rome’s most iconic pasta dishes. The name means “cheese and pepper,” and it’s known for its creamy sauce and sharp flavor. This vegan version keeps the classic flavors but swaps dairy for a smooth cashew-based sauce. Bucatini, a pasta similar to spaghetti but thicker with a hollow center, holds the sauce perfectly.

This recipe comes from Vegana Italiana by Tara Punzone. The method starts with soaking cashews to create the base. They blend into a silky sauce with garlic, lemon, nutritional yeast, and olive oil. Black pepper is toasted and added in generously, giving the pasta its distinctive bite.

The dish is simple but needs some planning for soaking time. Once the cashews are ready, the sauce comes together quickly in a blender. Toss it with hot bucatini and finish cooking in the pan so the pasta absorbs the flavor.

Cacio e pepe method

Creamy cashew sauce and plenty of black pepper transform this Roman classic into a vegan-friendly favorite. Served with bucatini, it’s simple, flavorful, and perfect for sharing around the table.

vegan Cacio e Pepe pasta with bucatini, nutritional yeast, cashews, lemon, and pepper

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Duration4 20

Cook Time10

Prep Time10

Servings

Ingredients

1 cup raw unsalted cashews
½ cup filtered water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt plus
2 tablespoons for the pasta water
1 ½ teaspoons black pepper plus more for topping
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound bucatini
Chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Soak the cashews in water for a minimum of 4 hours. Drain and rinse well before using.
In a large pot, bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, in a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, vinegar, yeast, garlic, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Blend until smooth.
With the blender running on low speed, slowly add the olive oil until smooth.
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of salt to the boiling water.
Add the bucatini and cook until very al dente, a little more than half the recommended cooking time.
Pour all the cacio e pepe sauce into a large sauté pan and warm it over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, just enough to make it piping hot.
Use pasta tongs to transfer the bucatini to the sauté pan and add ½ cup of the pasta cooking water.
Cook the bucatini in the sauce, tossing it around until it absorbs all the water and is perfectly al dente. Check to make sure the pasta does not overcook. Add more pasta water if needed.
Top with parsley and pepper.

Excerpted from VEGANA ITALIANA by Tara Punzone. Copyright © 2025 by Tara Punzone. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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comfort food

pasta

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vegan Italian

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The Author

Tara Punzone

Tara Punzone is the founder of the award-winning Pura Vita restaurants in Los Angeles. Pura Vita is the first 100% Plant-Based Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar in the USA. A trailblazer in vegan Italian cuisine, Tara has been featured in Bon Appétit, Eater, and the Los Angeles Times. Chef Tara Punzone grew up in an Italian American home in New York, and has thrived on a vegan diet for over 35 years. Her passion for healthy southern Italian food has been evolving since her childhood when she made the decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle. It was then Tara began converting all her family’s traditional dishes to vegan versions of the same, without compromise. Vegana Italiana is her first book. Gene Stone – A graduate of Stanford and Harvard, Gene Stone (www.genestone.com) is a former Peace Corps volunteer and newspaper editor for such companies as the Los Angeles Times, Esquire, and Simon & Schuster. He has written more than a dozen books under his own name on a wide variety of subjects and has also ghostwritten or co-written another thirty-five books for a very diverse lot of people, many of which have been national bestsellers. However, for the past fifteen years he has concentrated mainly on writing or ghostwriting books about plant-based diets and their relationship to animal protection, health, and the environment. Among these books are such titles as Forks Over Knives, 72 Reasons to Be Vegan, How Not to Die, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life, Eat for the Planet, The Engine 2 Diet, and Animalkind.

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