Whether you’ve had a busy day at home or work, or a long day on the road, often we crave comfort over complexity when it comes to mealtimes. Simple recipes infused with flavour, which aren’t overly complicated to create, are a sure-fire win for pretty much any occasion. Forget trends and viral moments and rediscover your enjoyment of meals guided by home-cook and recipe writer Elizabeth Hewson. Specialising in memorable meals that truly reflect how modern families cook and eat today, Home Food is a collection of recipes you’ll find yourself returning to on repeat. It’s easy to see why this new book has become so hotly sought after just weeks after its release. As we farewell summer and head towards autumn, these soul-nourishing recipes below, shared by Elizabeth (and featured in Home Food), are the perfect antidote to the summer blues.
Zozzona (serves 2-3)
The love child of the four famous Roman pastas
I only recently discovered this Roman pasta dish, rigatoni alla Zozzona. It has been described as a marriage of the famous Roman pastas – cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara and alla gricia – with a little sausage cameo. The name translates to ‘a dirty mess’, and it truly is – in the most delicious way.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 60–70 g (2¼–2½ oz) guanciale or pancetta, cut into lardons (or batons)
- 150 g (5½ oz) (about 2) pork and fennel sausages
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste (concentrated purée)
- 1 × 400 g (14 oz) can whole tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼–½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 200–250 g (7–9 oz) short, dried pasta such as rigatoni mezzi, paccheri or rigatoni
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup (25 g) grated Pecorino (preferably, but Parmesan will work too), or to taste
Method
Place a large, deep frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and guanciale and fry slowly until golden and crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Pour the rendered fat into a small bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
Increase the heat to medium. Squeeze the sausage out of its casing into little nuggets, no larger than 1 cm (½ inch). Fry, undisturbed, for one minute, then fry the other side for another minute until they’re nicely golden. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for about one minute, then add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon. Season with salt, pepper and dried chilli, if using. Reduce the heat and let the sauce gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly – around 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Cook the pasta until it’s well shy of al dente – about three minutes less than the packet instructions. The plan is to finish cooking it in the sauce.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, Pecorino, and 1 tablespoon of the reserved guanciale fat (discarding the rest).
Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup (250 ml) of the cooking water. Add half of the cooking water to the pan and toss the pasta through the sauce. Cook over medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes, adding more pasta water as needed to keep the sauce loose. Stir ¼ cup (60 ml) of the reserved pasta water into the egg yolk mixture.\
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the cooked guanciale and the egg yolk mixture to the pasta, tossing rapidly to combine. Stir until the pasta is glossy – about 30 seconds. Serve immediately.
