Sausage is our go-to meat around here for jazzing up pizza, soups and pasta dishes, so when Wegmans stopped carrying Bob Evans Original Recipe, it amounted to a family crisis. We stocked up at Giant, but when that freezer stash ran out, we were unable to find more at Giant. If you are going to tell me that we should try your favorite brand of sausage that is far superior to ours, save your breath. We’ve tried it and it has too much anise or sage. So, when we wanted to try a new pasta recipe with sausage, we decided to substitute our new favorite, nduja, for the sausage in the spirit of Ben’s new catchphrase, “Why not?”
Our internet research not only led us to recipes for this marvelous meat paste, nduja, but also revealed the pronunciation to be something close to “and-do-ya.” Perfect! It’s like a cured meat invitational – And do ya want to make the best pasta dish ever? And do ya realize authentic versions take so long to make and contain enough fat that your heart may stop before you finish making it? And do ya make a trimmed down version? Yes, yes, and yes. Why not?
Nduja Mushroom Balsamic Pasta (And Do Ya Want Pasta)
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 ounces diced pancetta
1/2 pound Genoa salami slices
6-8 Calabrian chilies in oil, stemmed and seeded
1 teaspoon Calabrian chili oil
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 pound large tube shaped pasta, cooked according to package directions, 1 1/2 cup pasta water reserved
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, for serving.
- Heat oil over medium heat and cook pancetta until fat is rendered. Remove pancetta from pan, reserving oil in pan.
- Pulse salami, cooked pancetta, and chilies in food processor until paste forms. Remove to bowl.
- Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped (or chop into 1/4 inch pieces by hand.)
- Heat reserved pancetta oil and add butter. Cook mushrooms over medium heat until most juices have evaporated. Add meat paste and heat through. Add balsamic vinegar and mix thoroughly. Add enough reserved pasta water to make a sauce of your desired consistency, about 1 cup, and add cooked pasta. Toss to distribute sauce. Serve with parmesan cheese.
This was a great meal to make with Ben because he’s a pro at operating the food processor. Bonus? Nobody loses a finger. The only warning attached to this meal is that it is quite spicy. Ben talks a good game, but he drank two full glasses of water and mopped his brow repeatedly between bites and exclamations about the exquisite pain of eating something so good but so hot. You could reduce the amount of chilies for a milder version.
Kale Caesar Salad
1/2 giant bag of chopped kale, large stems removed
Garlic Caesar salad dressing (Wegmans brand)
- Massage kale in sealed gallon bag to soften it up.
- Toss kale with dressing to taste and serve.
