Rome’s Dirty Secret

I look back to my time in Rome with nostalgia. Of the four cities I love, it swaps in and out of the top spot with the changing of my mood. Because I live here, and ours is a love affair of daily interaction, New York does not get a rank. I love Paris, because she is like an old friend that you haven’t visited as much as you should, but when you catch up, it is exactly where you left off. She is elegant and romantic, but she is always third. London is a sister city to New York. It’s an older, more architecturally interesting city, but the energy is the same. Sometimes I long for London as much as I do New York when I’m away. But Rome — Rome is Rome. A bit grittier, a bit more coarse and earthy, Rome is about the senses. It’s the quick shot of espresso served properly and in a proper vessel; as fast as Starbuck’s, but imbued with centuries of tradition. It’s walking across the Ponte Sant'Angelo, the morning sun turning Bernini’s alabaster sculptures bright white against the cerulean sky. It’s the cheers erupting through windows as AS Roma defeats rival A.C. Milan. And it’s the pleasure of a cocktail and snacks with friends in Piazza Navona followed later by crossing the river for a late dinner in Trastevere that champions the current season’s ingredients. The city is the embodiment of passion. 

Photo by Michele Bitetto

That passion, of course, finds its way into the food of Rome. Especially in the pasta course. I am enamored with all of Rome’s four mother sauces, but it is amatriciana that I can have in Rome night after night and never tire. My introduction to the dish was glorious, even if far from elegant. I was working on a project in Lake Como and finally had a break for dinner, so I joined my wife at a local restaurant by the water. Being my first restaurant meal in Italy, I wanted something exotic and ordered spaghettini puttanesca. It’s important to state here that because of the project, I had been awake for 36 hours straight. Because of my lack of sleep, I thought I heard my wife order bucatini “Americana.” When our dishes came, my wife offered me a taste of her dish and I begrudgingly accepted. I was not prepared for what hit my taste buds. It was transcendent. Sweet with fresh tomatoes and a bit of onion, it was the salty brilliance and unctuousness of the guanciale that made me contemplate the possible existence of heaven. After recovering from my introduction to the sauce, and while wondering why it was called bucatini Americana, I spoke the word. Americana. Seeing my confusion my wife corrected me that no, although in my brain fog I may have heard Americana, she had ordered all’amatriciana. 

“If I’m in Rome for only 48 hours, I would consider it a sin against God to not eat cacio e pepe, the most uniquely Roman of pastas, in some crummy little joint where Romans eat.”

~ Anthony Bourdain

I recently had the opportunity to research the evolution of Rome’s four great sauces — grecia, cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana. Oversimplifying the findings and summarizing the resulting article here for brevity… They started with the shepherds of Lazio and moved to the city where they continued to evolve. Grecia, a combination of guanciale, pecorino cheese, black pepper, and just a bit of the water from the cooked pasta, begat cacio e pepe when guanciale ran scarce. Someone added an egg yolk and created carbonara, and in the town of Amatrice, they added onion and when they arrived in 1548, a bit of tomato to bring amatriciana into the world. All are adaptations to the ingredients on hand, the time of year, or the occasion for which it is being served. 

So it should come as no surprise that south of Rome the four sauces evolved again, into a fifth, decadently rich, truly satisfying pasta that is quick to come together. It feels like it was created for a celebration — for when times were good and larders were well stocked. Or by a bunch of guys in a tavern one night, very late, after more than a few grappas. A cross between amatriciana and carbonara, it contains the ingredients of all four mother sauces. And still, with all of that, someone decided that no, even that’s not celebratory enough! Let’s add some sausage, because, why not? 

Pasta alla zazonna translates into “dirty pasta” and I’m still not sure if that is because of the addition of sausage or because its decadence makes you feel the need to visit a church in the morning and confess your sins. The dish is made for the senses. Slightly sweet, salty, unctuous, silky, and satisfying, it reminds me of the Rome I fell in love with. Lovely to look at, friendly and embracing, but humble enough to not hide its rougher edges. A celebration of beauty, desire, and passion. Like the graffiti painted on the walls just off of the pristine Piazza Navona, it is a balance of beauty and passion. Of elegance and base desire. Of the exaltation of a higher being and the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Curia of Pompey. It is Rome’s dirty little secret.

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Pasta alla Zazonna

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 oz guanciale, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

• 5 oz sweet Italian uncased sausage, cut into 1 pieces 

• 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

• 3/4 cup passata

• 1/2 cup Pecorino Romana 

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 8 oz rigatoni or tube shaped pasta

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil salted water for pasta. 

2. In a skillet over medium heat add guanciale and sauté about six minutes until the fat is rendered and the guanciale is browned.

3. Add onion and sausage to the pan and break up sausage with the back of a spoon.

4. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink.

5. Add passata to the pan and simmer.

6. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.

7. Return drained pasta to pot and stir in the sausage mixture until the pasta is well coated.

8. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks with the Pecorino and black pepper.

9. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of the saved pasta water to temper the egg mixture.

10. Remove pan from heat and stir in the yolk/cheese mixture. Stir until the sauce is thickened and glossy.

11. Top with more Pecorino and serve.