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Pasta con 'nduja
Pasta con 'nduja: Calabria's fiery spreadable pork salumi melted into tomato sauce
Spilinga, a small hill town above the Calabrian coast, celebrates 'nduja with its own summer festival. This soft, spreadable salumi of pork fat and meat with huge amounts of Calabrian chilli melts straight into a pan, turning a simple tomato sauce brick-red, rich and properly hot. It's a quick weeknight pasta in Calabria, often made with fileja or short pasta, and finished with a little pecorino or a dollop of ricotta to soften the heat. Chef's tip: add the 'nduja off the heat at first and let it melt gently, then simmer; frying it hard burns the chilli and makes it bitter.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Bring a large pot of water to the boil with 1 tbsp salt.
10 minStep 2: Warm 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook 1 red onion until soft and sweet.
6 minStep 3: Take the pan off the heat, add 3 ½ oz 'nduja and mash it into the oil with a wooden spoon until it melts. Don't fry it hard: that's the most common reason the sauce turns bitter.
Step 4: Add 14 oz tinned chopped tomatoes, return the pan to a low heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and the red oil gathers at the edges.
10 minStep 5: Cook 14 oz fileja, fusilli or penne in the boiling water until al dente. Keep a mug of the cooking water before draining.
11 minStep 6: Toss the pasta into the sauce with a splash of the water and stir over a medium heat for 1 minute, until glossy and clinging. Stir in 1 ⅜ oz pecorino.
1 minStep 7: Serve with a spoonful of ricotta on each plate and a few basil leaves, if you like.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 600 kcal
- Protein
- 20 g
- Carbs
- 80 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pasta con 'nduja take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of red onion?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
- What can I use instead of tinned chopped tomatoes?
- Fresh ripe tomatoes, chopped: about 6 per 400g tin (cook a little longer).
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