Tomato Tomatoe

pasta alla zozzona

Pasta alla Zozzona combines the four Roman pasta dishes – Cacio e Pepe, Gricia, Amatriciana and Carbonara. They use simple and good quality ingredients and they’re the essential pasta dishes of Rome. When I saw Wishbone Kitchen make Pasta alla Zozzona, I immediately knew that I needed to try it. It blends the four Roman pasta’s into one extraordinary dish. Although the sausage isn’t in any of in the four classics, it works perfectly in this pasta. The crisp guanciale and fatty sausage helps to transform this pasta into a beautiful emulsified sauce.

This pasta is creamy, salty, spicy and has the perfect amount of acidity from the tomatoes to round out the fattiness. I highly recommend making this pasta, it will become one of your favourites!

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pasta alla zozzona

Ingredients

• 4 oz guanciale, chopped into matchsticks (you can also use pancetta if you can’t find guanciale)
• 1/2 lb mild (or hot if you would like more spice) Italian sausage, or 2 sausage links (removed from casings)
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 parmesan rind, optional
• 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand or with an immersion blender)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 tbsp chopped chilis
• 1 package rigatoni
• kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• olive oil

Directions

1. Heat a large Dutch oven to medium low heat. Add the guanciale to the cold pan with a drizzle of olive oil and let the fat begin to rendure. Let this crisp until golden brown. Turn the heat off and remove the guanciale with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. Pour the fat out into a bowl, leaving about 1 tsp in the pan.
2. Heat the same pot to medium heat and add in 3-4 inch chunks of the sausage and let this brown on both sides. Once both sides are browned and caramelized, begin to break up the sausage with a wooden spoon. Transfer the sausage into the same bowl as the guanciale.
3. To the same pot, add the onions along with more pork fat if the pan is too dry. Cook the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, this should take 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and scrape any brown bits that may be stuck to the pan. Let the tomato paste caramelize for 4-5 minutes, constantly stirring.
4. Add the crushed tomatoes, chili, guanciale, sausage and parmesan rind. Bring this to a gentle simmer and then turn the heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes ensuring that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (the water should be salty like the sea). Cook the rigatoni for 2 minutes less than what the package says.
6. While the pasta is cooking, separate 3 egg yolks and place in a medium bowl. Grate in parmesan cheese and mix with the egg yolks. Remove 1 cup of pasta water. Gradually add in 1/4 cup of pasta water to the egg mixture. This will temper the eggs so that they don’t turn into scrambled eggs.
7. Drain the pasta and add directly to the pot with the sauce, stirring constantly to ensure that every noodle is coated in the sauce. Turn off the heat and pour in the egg mixture. Mix to combine and add more pasta water if needed. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.