Rigatoni Alla Zozzona

In the history of Italy no cook has ever removed guanciale fat from a pan. That’s the sauce!

Wow!! Delicious!!! We tried "zozzona" a while ago, and enjoyed. But the addition of red wine to deglaze the sauce adds a *lot* of flavor. We aren't novice cooks. Nonetheless, we love the egg/water emulsion. We enjoy cooking together and our chatting every now and then is a distraction. This technique prevents our inadvertently scrambling the eggs. If "the proof of the pudding (and the zozzona) is in the eating, then these two tweaks on a traditional recipe make for even greater eating.

Please stop starting pasta recipes with "cook the pasta" followed with " in the meanwhile...". The recipe gives 15 minutes of actual cooking, and at that point the Rigatoni are way past the stage off "al dente". Moreover, having to work fast with an eye to the clock is stressful, and whenever tomatoes are concerned, cooking them a bit longer ist way better than stopping too soon.

We followed the recipe as is but when making it again would add more tomatoes. The sauce is very rich and would benefit, we think, from more acid from more tomatoes. I would also simply add canned diced tomatoes; the cherry tomatoes left their skins behind.

I made mine with a side of statins. Delicious!

It took 20 minutes, not five to render and crisp the guanciale. I needed 2 cups of red wine for enough sauce. The recipe is great. Maybe one anchovy would add to the umami.

I made this as written and it is DELICIOUS! 10/10!!

" Alla zozzona" means " the dirty way"

This was absolutely fabulous. My Italian mother in law said “This tastes like something I would eat at home in Italy” which truly is the ultimate compliment. I used 3 cans of organic diced tomatoes (instead of fresh cherry tomatoes) after reading comments that said it needed more tomato sauce, and it came out perfect. I can’t wait to make this again. I would recommend cooking the pasta before al dente and then finish cooking in the sauce. If you over cook they will split and not look as nice.

This was a hit. I used pancetta and a mix of Pecorino and Parmesan. I also added about half a jar of Raos marinara that I had sitting in the fridge, since the grape tomatoes I added didn't seem to add enough tomato punch to the sauce. Definitely going into the rotation.

Looks humble, tastes exceptionally high end. Absolutely stellar texture and flavor. The spicy Italian sausage is best. Another cook recommended doubling the wine and I can’t imagine it otherwise. Be warned, the sauce will look watery up til you add the egg emulsion. Only after is the dish transformed to its wonderfully complex final form.

I made this recipe just as written and it was really awesome. I used sweet Italian sausage, othewise I stuck to the recipe. It wasn't greasy or oily, I think it's important to pour off most of the fat from the guanciale.

Can’t wait to try what looks like an upgrade for my not-Italian Granny’s rigatoni, a staple in her house and thus ours - couldn’t leave a visit to her home without a Corning ware casserole dish to go. The sauce was merely one onion, a stick of oleo (!), a can of tomato paste, water, and pound of ground beef. Still. I sometimes crave it. Bet this will become my new nostalgia trip.

The kosher salt is used for boiling the pasta. Always cook pasta with salted water.

Yes—the eggs cook almost instantly when combined with the hot pasta and sauce.