Cheese Wheel Pasta: bathe your pasta in melted cheese

Where Can I Get it? | How Can I Make It?

Table Of Contents

What is cheese wheel pasta?
Where can I get it?
How can I make it?

What is cheese wheel pasta?

Cheese wheel pasta (a.k.a. pasta alla ruota) is a style of pasta that is made tableside by mixing freshly cooked pasta in a hollowed cheese wheel. A layer of cheese is scraped inside the wheel so it melts when the hot pasta is mixed in. Sometimes, the cheese is lit on fire to induce melting…

As far as the internet has told us, there is no single official name for “cheese wheel pasta” since pasta dishes made in cheese wheels are known by many different names depending on the restaurant. However, one particular restaurant in Santa Monica, California is taking credit for naming this style of pasta “dalla forma” which literally translates to “from form” or “from forma” (Forma is the name of the restaurant).

Btw, if you love melted cheese dishes, you’ll also want to check out raclette and flaming saganaki. And if you’re feeling a tad adventurous, you may want to try cheese tea.

Tasty Tees Hot Off the Press

Where can I get it?

You can get this pasta made hot and fresh from a carved cheese wheel in select Italian restaurants across the country. Here are several places that serve the best versions of this melted cheese dish.

Houston, TX: Ragu & Pesto

Little Rock, AR: Vesuvio Bistro

New York, NY: Cacio e Pepe

Las Vegas, NV: Salute

Los Angeles, CA: Le Petit Paris

San Diego, CA: Monello

Santa Monica, CA: Forma

Looking for more places that serve cheese wheel pasta? You can find them on Glutto right here.

How can I make it?

Cheese wheel pasta is a great dish to make if you really want to impress your friends and family. The ingredients are very simple and can be customized to your taste. To make the popular cheese wheel pasta dish “cacio e pepe” you’ll need to follow this recipe that you can also save on Glutto here.

Special Tools

cheese wheel cutter

Ingredients

1 or 1/2 wheel of parmigiano-reggiano
1 cup pecorino Romano
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup long pasta of your choice (spaghetti, linguini, etc.)
olive oil
salt

Directions

First, cut open the parmigiano reggiano wheel by following the above video.
Then, boil a pot of salted water to cook the pasta.
Once the water is at a rapid boil, place the pasta in the water and cook until al dente.
Scrape the inside of the cheese wheel to create a bowl shape (leave cheese scrapings).
Put the hot cooked pasta in the scraped cheese wheel and mix until the cheese is creamy and melted onto the pasta.
Add black pepper and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Kristina Reynolds

Kristina Reynolds is the Founder & CEO of Glutto and an alumna of the University of California, San Diego. She writes articles & posts for Glutto Digest with insights from fellow industry experts. Furthermore, she is the author of The Fittest Food Lovers: How EVERY BODY Can be Incredibly Fit and Still Enjoy Food, a collaborative philanthropic book with proceeds going to charities that fight world hunger.

4 Comments

Natalie Russo on November 5, 2020 at 10:47 pm

This may sound like a stupid question .. but can you wash off – hollow out further and use … Or is this for one time use to only?
Reply
- Jeff on November 10, 2020 at 2:37 pm
  
  Your cheese wheel can definitely be reused. Just scrape the top layer off, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
  Reply
Jill Rossini on January 3, 2021 at 9:42 am

Where can I purchase a small cheese wheel
Reply
- Glutto Digest on January 7, 2021 at 7:29 pm
  
  You can get a small 2.2 pound manchego cheese wheel that works great as a pasta bowl on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3noYB4W.
  
  Large authentic parmesan cheese wheels are over 80 pounds and cost $2000+, so it’s a much more convenient option. 🙂
  Reply