Mix all of the dry ingredients together, flour, salt, sugar, yeast, cheese (reserve 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top of the loaves before baking) and pepper. Pour in your warm water. Stir till all the flour is incorporated and behold the shaggy mess. Don’t stress. Cover it and let it sit someplace warm until it is double in size. It should definitely look wet and full of bubbles at this point.
I have given the option here for Pecorino Romano (traditional) or Parmesan (not traditional). Pecorino tends to be much more assertive and saltier, so definitely use less Pecorino than you would Parmesan. If you really wanted to go with 1.5 cups of Pecorino, you could lower the salt in the bread, but I don't have ratios on that, I would say play with it. While I do realize that Parmesan is not traditional and misses a bit of that sharp sheep's milk flavor, it still produces a fabulous bread and most people already have it in their house so would rather you make it with what you have then not make it at all. I think you will enjoy the bread either way.
Also, I call for grated cheese, and I generally mean the kind they sell in a clear plastic tub at the store (I buy mine at Trader Joe's) that is not long shreds, but more of a fine/powder like consistency. Please note that it is not necessary to have a super-aged hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano (if going Parmesan) for this recipe--save that for an amazing cheese board. I have made the recipe both ways, by grating it myself or using the pre-grated/plastic tub kind (not a shelf stable shaker style), and I find the store grated is fine for this application, baked in bread. The pre-grated stuff is more compact than hand grating is, so make sure if you hand grate it, you compact it some to get the same amount of flavor.