There's a mouth-watering Italian recipe that most Brits probably haven't heard of - but it's so indulgent and simple to whip up with just a few ingredients.

Pasta alla zozzona, also known as "the pasta Queen of Rome", is described as "a decadent fusion of Roman amatriciana and carbonara, with a sausage twist". Despite these grand descriptions, you only need a handful of ingredients to create an explosion of flavour.

The recipe first caught my eye when it was shared on TikTok by Italian chef Luke Magro, who labelled it as "divine" and insisted: "You have to try it", writes Steffan Rhys for Express.co.uk.

It's also received rave reviews from other cooks, with Canadian chef Daniel Vanson declaring: "I have to say I think this is in my top 10 dishes I have ever cooked. This pasta queen of Rome has everything I love in pasta. A sausage meat sauce with guanciale and creamy carbonara-like pecorino cream both come together to make one of the best dishes I've ever made. This stuff is life-changing."

Even though the ingredients might sound a bit intimidating at first, they were easy to find and the cooking process was straightforward - it took just a few minutes but resulted in one of the most flavourful dishes I have ever cooked.

The ingredient I presumed would be the most challenging to source was guanciale, a cured pig's cheek. However, I simply strolled into a deli just two minutes from my office and they had an ample supply, reports the Express.

They also stocked two other ingredients, Italian sausage and pecorino cheese, so with one swift shopping trip, I had the majority of the ingredients sorted. The rest I already had in my kitchen.

Frying the guanciale and the sausage resulted in numerous crispy bites bursting with flavour, while the egg yolks and pecorino cheese created a wonderfully creamy, smooth sauce. The entire dish was deserving of a dramatic Italian chef's kiss.

You can watch Luke Magro prepare this recipe below (though it's a quick video without instructions) or you can follow my directions below. For another fantastic (and healthy) pasta dish with a twist, try this delicious and creamy bolognese I made using only super-healthy ingredients.

How to make pasta alla zozzona

Ingredients

  • 500g rigatoni pasta
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 300g guanciale
  • 3 Italian sausages
  • 1 onion
  • 300g tomato passata
  • 400g pecorino cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Take the sausage out of its casing and break into small pieces. Chop the guanciale into similarly sized pieces and fry both together in a pan until golden brown and cripsy (no need to use oil for frying). Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Finely chop the onion and add it to the same pan you cooked the meat in. Fry until golden brown.
  3. Add the tomato passata to the onion in the pan. Then add the guanciale and Italian sausage. Take it off the heat.
  4. Cook your pasta in salted boiling water. Once cooked, add it to the sauce. Add a little of the pasta water if needed.
  5. Make your pecorino cream: mix the egg yolks and pecorino cheese together in a bowl with some ground black pepper until they form a silky sauce.
  6. Pour the pecorino cream into the pasta and sauce and mix it all together. Serve with some added grated pecorino on top.