Zuppa forte, also known as zuppa di soffritto, is a classic Neapolitan recipe that involves slow-cooking a mix of meats with garlic, tomatoes, and preserved chilies until it becomes a rich, concentrated paste. This spicy mixture can be enjoyed on crusty bread, diluted for soups, or used as a flavorful pasta sauce. While traditionally made with assorted meat scraps, our version in the “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year” uses salty pancetta as a substitute for a savory outcome. Opt for a chunk of pancetta with a good fat content and dice it yourself for the best results. Pre-diced pancetta tends to be lean and can result in a tough texture when cooked.
Creating a sauce with intense flavors involves browning tomato paste and blending canned whole tomatoes until smooth, then simmering them in a skillet. Avoid using canned tomato puree or crushed tomatoes, as they can impart a slightly metallic taste that becomes more pronounced in the final sauce. Blending whole tomatoes for the sauce provides a fresher, cleaner flavor profile.
In place of hard-to-find preserved chilies, we incorporate Korean gochujang for its complex, fermented spiciness and umami notes. Alternatively, spicy Calabrian chili paste also works well. To complement the rich and intense sauce, fresh basil and dollops of ricotta are added.
Pasta with Spicy Tomato and Pancetta Sauce
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
– 14½-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes
– 2 tablespoons gochujang (or 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste)
– ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
– 4 ounces pancetta, chopped
– 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
– 4 bay leaves
– 2 tablespoons tomato paste
– 1 sprig rosemary
– Kosher salt and ground black pepper
– 1 pound penne, ziti, or rigatoni pasta
– ½ cup fresh basil, torn
– Whole-milk ricotta cheese, for serving
Directions:
1. Boil 4 quarts of water in a large pot. Blend the tomatoes with gochujang until smooth, then set aside.
2. In a skillet, combine oil, pancetta, garlic, bay leaves, tomato paste, rosemary, and pepper. Cook until the pancetta releases fat and the paste darkens, then add the pureed tomato mixture and simmer until thick.
3. Cook pasta until nearly al dente, then reserve some cooking water before draining and returning to the pot.
4. Combine the sauce with the pasta, adding reserved cooking water as needed. Remove bay leaves and rosemary, season with salt and pepper, stir in basil, and serve topped
The website for Milk Street by Christopher Kimball can be found at 177milkstreet.com/ap.
