Fileja con
’Nduja
Calabrian pasta with spicy pork and tomato
Long curls of fileja hold a red tomato sauce enriched with spicy ’nduja, softened red onion and a light finish of pecorino.
Fileja, tomato, ’nduja & pecorinoCalabrian pasta curls,
a warm red sauce.
Fileja are elongated curls of pasta associated with the Vibo Valentia area of Calabria. Their shape holds sauce along an open channel. Here that sauce combines tomato with ’nduja, the soft, chili-rich pork salume closely associated with Spilinga.
The ’nduja melts into the sauce rather than staying in sausage chunks, giving both warmth and a savory richness. Red onion softens its edges, and a little pecorino finishes the plate. This home recipe starts with purchased dried fileja; the amount of ’nduja gives a pronounced heat that varies with the product.
Let’s make fileja con ’nduja.
Four first-course portions with purchased dried fileja. The ’nduja is dissolved into tomato sauce, with red onion and pecorino.
Four first-course portions.
What you’ll need
- 320 gdried fileja
- 80 gnduja, casing removed
- 400 gcanned chopped tomatoes
- 100 gred onion, finely sliced
- 2 tbspextra-virgin olive oil
- 60 mlwater for the sauce
- 40 gpecorino, finely grated
- 6basil leaves
- 3 lwater for the pasta
- to tastesalt
Use a ready-made nduja suitable for cooking, not raw ground pork or a hard slicing salami. If its heat is unfamiliar, use 50 g instead of 80 g; this is a deliberate milder adjustment. Pasta cooks during the sauce simmer, so its boiling time is already included in the 35-minute cooking allowance.
How to make it
- 01
Soften the onion
Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan. Add the red onion and cook over medium-low heat for about 8–10 minutes until soft, stirring so it does not catch.
- 02
Melt the nduja
Add the nduja and stir for about 1 minute until it loosens into the oil. Add the tomatoes and 60 ml water, then simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Use a low flame rather than frying the spicy paste dry.
- 03
Cook the fileja
Meanwhile, bring the pasta water to a boil and salt it lightly. Cook the fileja until just al dente according to the package. Reserve 150 ml cooking water before draining.
- 04
Bring together
Add the pasta to the sauce with 2–3 tbsp reserved cooking water. Toss over low heat for about 1–2 minutes, adding a little more water if needed so the sauce coats the pasta without pooling.
- 05
Finish the plates
Take off the heat. Tear in four basil leaves and stir in half the pecorino. Taste before adding salt. Divide among four plates and finish with the remaining cheese and two basil leaves, torn as needed.
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