Spicy Nduja Pasta

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Spicy Nduja Pasta is one of those recipes that seems a lot trickier than it is. This is a real pasta dish to impress but in reality, it needs just a handful of ingredients and takes 15 minutes maximum. This pasta marries spicy nduja with a vodka pasta sauce, which if you ever tried the viral vodka pasta, you’ll know how good it is (even if it was a popular pasta dish long before the viral trend).

Spicy Nduja Pasta in a beige bowl with a fork twirled into the spaghetti

Key ingredients you will need for this spicy nduja pasta

Nduja paste – if you’ve never used nduja before, it’s a spicy spreadable paste made of pork from Italy (Calabria to be specific). It has a bright red colour and a spicy, smoky flavour, so it is similar to chorizo but definitely not the same.
Garlic – a pasta dish is not complete without garlic. It adds a good base flavour for the dish.
Vodka – you won’t taste vodka in the dish and it cooks off so you won’t get tipsy from it either but it elevates the flavours of the dish so well.
Double cream – creamy and delicious, it works well with the spicy nduja to balance it out.
Tomato Paste – using double concentrate tomato paste means you have good tomato flavour throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is nduja?

It’s a spicy, smoked pork sausage paste from Calabria, a region in Italy that is also famous for its chillies which is what makes this paste spicy. Nduja is cured so you can eat it raw and it adds a really interesting flavour to this pasta. It isn’t super spicy but enough to have a general level of heat but all nduja varies so taste a little bit of yours first if you want to go easy on the spice.

Do I have to use vodka?

No, you can go without if you don’t have vodka. The vodka does really make it more delicious but it does work without. If you have gin, that would also work.

Can I make this spicy nduja pasta vegetarian?

You can leave out the nduja to make this pasta vegetarian (nduja is pork). Skip the butter, add the vodka directly to the tomato paste and cook it out that way. It won’t be spicy without the nduja though, so add fresh chilli or chilli flakes if you like.

Other pasta recipes with few ingredients

Creamy Courgette Pasta (coming soon!)

Caramelised Onion & Brown Butter Pasta (coming soon!)

Very Green Pasta full of veggies

Buttery Lemon Pasta

Tomato & Bean Weeknight Pasta

Spicy Nduja Pasta

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Making this spicy nduja pasta takes about as long as boiling the pasta so prepping the other ingredients is a good thing to do before you begin.

Author: margie

Ingredients

Scale

300 g spaghetti
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, grated
black pepper
40g butter
4.5 oz/140 g double concentrated tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
⅓ cup/80 ml vodka
1 cup/240 ml double cream
3.5 oz/100 g ‘nduja paste
1.5 oz/40 g grated Parmesan

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Instructions

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Scoop up ½ cup cooking water and drain the pasta.
While the pasta is boiling, prepare the sauce. Heat oil in a large pan over low heat. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the butter and allow to melt before adding the nduja paste and whisking well.
Add vodka, stir and simmer for 2 minutes over low. Pour in cream and cook for 30 seconds, Bring to a simmer. Stir in Parmesan, add the pasta and ¼ cup cooking water, toss to combine. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly, and the pasta is coated with a silky saucy layer. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the remaining pasta water, if needed. Finish off with black pepper. Serve immediately!