rigatoni alla zozzona
filthy rigatoni
I first posted a version of Alla Zozzona on social media about 3 years ago, after I'd found a mention of it in one of my late mother's cookbooks from the 1960s. I researched the recipe online and there were maybe fewer than a dozen recipes which I could find anywhere for the sauce. Today, less than 4 years later, it's everywhere.
On paper, it’s one of those decadent, over-the-top Roman recipes that many would run a mile from; a mix of cacio e pepe, carbonara and amatriciana. With a little extra sausage, onion and chilli thrown in too.
On the plate, it’s a completely different matter. The pecorino and egg ‘cream’ from the carbonara combine perfectly with the tomato from the amatriciana, and don’t taste over the top at all. The onion, white wine and sausage meat are a bizarrely light tasting ragù, with the crispiness of the smoked bacon and cayenne pepper adding more interest and heat.
Maybe these Romans are onto something. Maybe more is actually less.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
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prepare the ingredients
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grate the cheese
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chop the onion
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skin the sausages
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make tomato sauce
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fry the guanciale
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fry the sausages
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cook the onions
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make egg and pecorino cream
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boil the pasta
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add pasta to tomatoes and onions, combine
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add sausage, pancetta
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add egg cream, toss to combine
filthy rigatoni
FOR FOUR PEOPLE
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6 pork sausages (approx. 300g sausage meat)
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100g cubed guanciale/pancetta
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1 small onion
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400g tomato polpa (Mutti)
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white wine
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4 yolks
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80g pecorino Roman
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cayenne / black pepper
PASTA
400g dry fresh rigatoni
(De Cecco)
/ paccheri / mezzi rigatoni
/ penne / casarecce
MANTECATURA (?)
slight
METHOD
Zozzona isn't a particularly quick sauce to put together, so if you're going to attempt it, give yourself plenty of time. DON'T cook it for friends or a dinner party the first time you do it. Begin by dry frying the guanciale or pancetta, which you've cut into small strips, on a lowish heat in a non-stick pan, just like you would for a Carbonara. When it's moderately crispy remove it from the heat and cut into thin strips. Drain away the excess fat and keep that too.
I used the fantastic Salcis 'Classic' Sienese sausages from Fratelli Camisa, but almost any meaty traditional British sausage will do too.
Remove the sausage meat from the casings and dry fry it on a low-medium heat so that the fat drains from the meat. It's up to you whether you want to keep this in the final sauce. 100% Roman style would be to leave it there.
And let's fact it, if you're counting calories you probably haven't got this far.
When the sausage hasbegun to colour a bit (maybe after about 10 mins) add a splash of white wine, let it evaporated fry gently for another 5 minutes so the meat begins to take on more colour and crispiness. Set it aside in a bowl.
While you cook the sausage and guanciale, in a separate pan, gently fry chopped onion with EVO and a splash or wine and another of water. Don't let it burn or colour at all. When it's soft and translucent add the polpa to it and let it simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, while you cook and boil the pasta. Break the eggs and put the 4 yolks into a bowl. Add the grated pecorino and mix into a paste. You can add the excess fat from the guanciale to this that you saved earlier. Towards the end of the pasta cooking, as the cooking water begins to get starchy, add a ladle of cooking water to the yolks and cheese too to make a smooth, velvety sauce in the bowl.
As the pasta reaches al dente, fish it out of the cooking water and add it to the tomato and onion sauce in a pasta tossing pan. Toss and combine and let it cook for a minute or so (checking tenderness all the time!). Add the sausage and guanciale. Toss and combine again and remove the pan from the heat. Add the yolk and cheese sauce to the pasta and toss and combine again, possibly adding more pecorino and ground black or cayenne pepper. Serve immediately.
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