 Which is surprising, because these are just terrific recipes. So you came across a dirty pasta. What does that mean? You know, we go to Italy, like you say, and we think we know pasta, and then every time, we learn something new. And Rigatoni alla Zottzona is the classic example of this, something that, of course, every Roman knows all too well, but is new to us. Zottzona translates as dirty.