What to Cook Tonight #66

All things 'Nduja — three punchy recipes full of flavour and warmth. A Calabrian Chilli Pasta with Burrata & Gremolata, a Spicy Tuscan Stew with Beans & Greens, and a satisfying ‘Nduja Sandwich.

We are excited to introduce a new ingredient to our pantry this week — ‘Nduja! Made with lard, pancetta, guanciale, and Calabrian chillies, think of this delicious condiment as a spreadable, salami-like paste with a fiery kick, almost like a meaty, Italian harissa. It has a strong, spicy, salty pork flavour.

The great thing about cooking with ‘Nduja is that it already has so much flavour, all the work has been done for you! It’s quite rich, so go easy (you can always add more).

In New Zealand, you can find ‘Nduja at delis and Italian specialty stores like Sabato, Farro, and Vetro. Once opened, store it in the fridge — it keeps for months.

We’re first going to use this fab new ingredient in a yummy Calabrian Chilli Pasta with Burrata & Gremolata, a flavourful Spicy Tuscan Stew with Beans & Greens, and a satisfying ‘Nduja Sandwich with Roasted Peppers & Mozzarella.

Calabrian Chilli Pasta with Burrata & Gremolata 

First, the pasta. Spicy and hearty, this yummy pasta is a great use of flavourful ‘Nduja. A rich tomato sauce, bolstered with a roasted red pepper and that lovely ‘Nduja is the perfect base for a weeknight pasta.

We added some burrata as we were feeling decadent (the creamy cheese pairs so well with the rich spicy sauce). Mozzarella would also work well, or a swirl of thick Greek yoghurt. You can leave this out if you’d prefer to keep it dairy-free.

We also made a lovely herbaceous Gremolata (Italian herb sauce) to spoon over the pasta for some aromatic freshness and colour — you’re going to use half here and half in your soup.

For extra fibre and protein, add in a can of drained and rinsed butter or cannellini beans. For added greens, stir a couple of handfuls of baby spinach in at the end and/or add in some blanched broccoli/broccolini. You can use less pasta and more beans to make it a little more protein-packed. We used an onion and a bulb of fennel, but you can use two onions if you prefer, or an onion and a leek. To adapt this to be vegetarian use harissa in place of the ‘Nduja. To make this gluten-free, use gluten-free pasta. Smaller households can scale this down if preferred.

This also would be great with some crispy Garlicky Breadcrumbs on top if you wanted some crunch.

Prawn, Fennel & Harissa Pasta, Pappardelle with Harissa, Olives & Capers, Rigatoni with Eggplant Ragu

If you enjoyed the flavours in this, you should definitely make our best-loved Prawn, Fennel & Harissa Pasta — so satisfying and tasty, we can’t get enough of it.

This gorgeous Pappardelle with Harissa, Olives & Capers is another winner that’s speedy and delicious, the combination of ingredients really hits the spot (and thick Greek yoghurt adds some lovely x-factor).

You will find similar rich, meaty flavours in this stunning Rigatoni with Eggplant Ragu — cooking eggplant right down with pork and fennel sausages delivers the most incredible melt-in-your-mouth texture, laced with that delicious flavour thanks to the sausages. We love using a little bit of meat to go a long way and this recipe does just that.