Tomato Tomatoe

creamy ‘nduja pasta

I constantly see the Carbone spicy vodka pasta all over social media. I’ve always wanted to try it and was planning to make it but then I thought, what if I add ‘Nduja to this? I’m so glad I did because this pasta turned out to be amazing! My boyfriend even claimed that “it’s one of the best pastas I’ve made”. I usually add ‘Nduja to my sourdough pizzas and since I had a jar of it sitting in my fridge, I thought, why not add this to pasta? This pasta is creamy, velvety and has the perfect hint of spice from the ‘Nduja and chili paste. It’s in the realm of a pantry pasta because you may have some of the ingredients kicking around in your fridge and pantry.

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creamy ‘nduja pasta

Ingredients

• 1 bag pipette pasta
• 1 shallot
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp ‘Nduja
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp chili paste
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup pasta water
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Finely mince garlic and dice the shallot.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (the pasta water should be salty like the sea). Once at a boil, add the pasta and cook for two minutes less than what the package says.
3. To start the sauce, heat a medium sized Dutch oven to medium heat and add in a few tbsp of olive oil. Once the pot is hot, add the shallots and cook for a minute or two. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook this for 2-3 minutes or until the tomato paste begins to caramelize. Add the ‘Nduja and stir into the sauce until it begins to melt. To deglaze the pot, add white wine. Let this cook for a few minutes.
4. Add the chili paste and cream. Turn the heat down to medium low. Remove 1 cup of pasta water and add 1/2 cup to the sauce. Once the pasta has finished cooking, add directly to the sauce. Stir the pasta ensuring that the sauce coats each noodle. You may need to add more pasta water at this point if the sauce is too thick. Add in the butter and stir. Remove the pot from the heat and add freshly grated parmesan cheese.