zozzona pasta sauce?

There are four classic Roman pasta sauces that have acquired relatively universal recognition lately: amatriciana, gricia, carbonara and cacio e pepe. The last of these finally landed in the USA as a trendy Italian import only in the past few years, while gricia (basically amatriciana without the tomato) is still hesitant to make the trip across the ocean. Carbonara and amatrician are somewhat known over here. Using the American phrase "everything but the kitchen sink", pasta alla zozzona makes that same impression combining all four into a single sauce, throwing in sweet Italian sausage for good measure. "Zozzona" means "dirty" in Roman dialect ("sporca" in Italian) in the sense that the sauce is dirtied by the flavorful ingredients. Over the years we have experienced all four Roman classics many times, but only became aware of zozzona recently. America's Test Kitchen challenged us to finally give it a try.

Although we gave up supermarket checkout isle cooking mag grabs decades ago, bob was seduced by the cover of this particular American Test Kitchen product and sold when the zozzona page opened up, given his predeliction to find an excuse to try this out, in spite of the availability of innumerable versions online. ATK has a certain credibility that contributed to the split second decision to buy. Bob began lobbying the kitchen boss for permission to give this a run through, and within a few weeks the opportunity presented itself. Three diners at the table, so we went with the 3/4 1 lb box left over from adding to a full pound box for an extended family dinner, we upped the sweet Italian sausage to half our 16oz package, a bit more than the 5oz portion used in the original recipe. Otherwise head chef Ani followed the recipe precisely like the analytical chemist she is. bob grated the cheese and beat the egg mixture. He helped with the pasta water infusion of the egg mixture too. We actually had guanciale (pork cheek) from di Bruno Bros on the western Main Line before it bit the dust as the Bros pulled back to their Center City stores only. Leaving our area a bit less rich in culinary retail and with one less lunch spot for an occasional treat.

All three diners seemed to enjoy this unconventional dish. It is certainly a satisfying alternative to repeating crowd favorites. Vegetarians can skip the sausage.

ingredients

5 oz guanciale (pancetta in a pinch)

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

5 oz sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, broken into 1-inch pieces

1/2 c finely chopped onion

3/4 c passata (see  notes)

8 oz rigatoni (1/2 lb!)

1 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated fine (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving

2 large egg yolks

1/4 t pepper 

instructions

1. Slice guanciale into 1/4-inch-thick strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Heat guanciale and oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and guan- ciale is starting to brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
2. Add sausage and onion and cook, using wooden spoon to break meat into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch, until sausage is no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in passata; reduce heat to medium-low; and simmer, cov- ered, stirring occasionally, until fat is fully incorporated, 2 to 4 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring 2 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente.
4. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add tomato-meat sauce to pasta. Set pot over medium-low heat and stir until pasta is well coated, about 1 minute.
5. Whisk Pecorino, egg yolks, and pepper in medium bowl until com- bined. Slowly whisk 1/2  cup of reserved cooking water into egg yolk mixture (mixture will not be smooth). Off heat, stir egg yolk mixture into pasta until sauce looks glossy and is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Adjust sauce consistency with remaining reserved cooking water if needed. Transfer pasta to platter and serve immediately, passing extra Pecorino separately. 

notes

1. America's Test Kitchen Cook's Illustrated magazine PASTA (2026), 75 of our suciest, breamiest, cheesiest recipes. [locked recipe]
2. PBS freebie pasta alla zozzona recipe!
3. Passata is a cooked strained tomato sauce.
4. di Bruno Bros Philly!
5. Illustrations available.