Borrowing elements from two other classic Roman dishes, Amatriciana and Carbonara, Pasta alla Zozzona is a lesser-known but equally delicious dish from that city. A quick-cooked tomato sauce enriched with egg yolks and Pecorino cheese, it’s hearty, satisfying, and pairs beautifully with Sfoglini’s Whole Grain Trumpets. The trumpets cradle the chunks of sausage and pancetta perfectly, and the nutty whole-grain flavor stands up to the richness of the sauce.
MAKES FOUR - SIX SERVINGS
Use a fork to blend the egg yolks and Pecorino together in a bowl. Set aside.
Add the pancetta to a large sauté pan and place over low or medium-low heat. Slowly cook the pancetta, letting its fat render, for 10-15 minutes. Remove the pancetta and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the sausage and brown for 5 minutes, breaking the meat into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add the onion and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to avoid burning, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute more.
Turn the heat back to medium (or medium-high), deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up the browned bits. Once the fond has all been scraped up, add the passata to the pan and stir it in. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium-low while you cook the pasta. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the pasta. When you have about 2 minutes until the pasta is ready, scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water.
Remove the saucepan from the heat; stir in the egg mixture and 1/4 cup of pasta water into the sauce and continue stirring until it’s glossy and the egg has dissolved into the sauce.
Once the pasta is al dente, using a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta directly from the boiling water to the saucepan. Toss it gently with the sauce until it’s fully coated, adding more pasta water if needed.
Serve with pecorino and the cooked pancetta alongside.
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Chef’s Note: Don’t add salt to the sauce until you’ve added the pasta. The egg mixture is quite salty already and it is easy to over salt this dish.
The lower the heat is while cooking the pancetta, the more fat will have time to render.
Pasta Swaps: This recipe would also work well with Sfoglini Vesuvio, Quattrotini, or Cavatelli.
