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Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe ; Food Stylist: Brett Regot
Grocery shoppers fall into a few camps. Some do a daily shop, picking up only what they need for the next few meals. Others visit the grocery store once a week for ingredients they need to make their meal plan work. I’m a member of the final group: warehouse shoppers who buy their go-to ingredients in bulk. For the past 14 years, I’ve relied on Costco for the organic pastas, proteins, seasonings, and snacks that I use to cook meals at home.
I spend most of my grocery budget on groceries and not on eating out, so I’ve had to learn how to make some of my favorite restaurant dishes at home. Cacio e pepe is one of those dishes. It is a simple Roman dish that takes practice to master.
The sauce is a delicate emulsion of Pecorino Romano cheese, pasta water, and black pepper. If the ingredients aren’t combined exactly right, the pasta can taste dry and bland. That kind of culinary uncertainty is not a risk I’m willing to take on busy weeknights. That’s why I was overjoyed to see a jar of Carbone Cacio e Pepe Alfredo sauce on the shelf at Costco.
Credit: Patty Catalano
What’s So Great About Carbone Cacio e Pepe Alfredo?
Carbone’s Cacio e Pepe Alfredo sauce is a deliciously creamy sauce with notes of nutty cheese and spicy pepper. This sauce is a variation on the brand’s jarred Alfredo sauce. It is made with high-quality ingredients including cream, butter, imported DOP Pecorino Romano cheese, and a combination of white and black pepper. (Like Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano cheese can have the DOP — or denominazione d’origine protetta, protected designation of origin — to indicate that the standards of regional food production are followed.)
This sauce comes ready to heat-and-eat. Simply pour the sauce into a saucepan and cook until heated through before serving. A single 15-ounce jar of this sauce costs $11.19 at my local Tampa-area grocery store, but at Costco you can buy two 15-ounce jars for $11.39. That’s like getting one jar for free, just by shopping at Costco.
What’s the Best Way to Use Carbone Cacio e Pepe Alfredo?
Cacio e pepe is usually served with long noodles like spaghetti or bucatini. This creamy sauce clings beautifully to pasta, so other fancy-ish shapes like casarecce can be seamlessly substituted. If you want an even spicier flavor than what the white and black peppercorns provide, stir a few tablespoons of gochujang into the sauce before tossing with pasta.
Layer this store-bought sauce between lasagna noodles instead of making homemade sauce for cacio e pepe lasagna. You can use the same process to prepare cacio e pepe potato gratin for all of your spring gatherings.
Turning chicken thighs into cacio e pepe chicken thighs is easy. Simply sear the chicken, then add the sauce to the skillet and simmer until the meat is cooked through and the flavors meld.
Find it in stores: Carbone Cacio e Pepe Alfredo Sauce, $11.39 for 2 (15-ounce) jars at Costco
What are you buying in bulk at Costco this month? Tell us about it in the comments.
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