N’duja is one of my favourite ingredients in the world. If I eat out at a restaurant and it’s on the menu, I will always order it. It just has such an amazing, smokey flavour and really elevates a dish in my opinion. Tom and I went to London on New Years Day and I had delicious pasta dish made with N’duja but it was a tad on the spicy side so I really wanted to re-create it.
I think it’s the best pasta dish I’ve ever made and I’m 100% making it again! I also think it would be a great dish for a dinner party or a date night at home. Especially with Valentine’s Day coming up. I bought my N’duja from Marks and Spencer’s but its actually easier to buy now. This is also so easy and quick to make – definitely one if you’re not a confident cook or you’re just a pasta lover! Rigatoni works really well with this as the sauce fully coats it and gets inside the tubes for extra yumminess!
This recipe is for 2 people and takes around 25 minutes to cook!
Ingredients:
- 150g rigatoni
- 1 medium brown onion, finely diced
- 1 red chilli sliced
- 5-6 sundried tomatoes, sliced
- Cherry tomatoes (halved and for roasting)
- N’duja (I have linked the one I used)
- 125g Mascarpone
- Fresh basil
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp lazy garlic (or freshly pressed if you can be bothered!)
- Salt and pepper
- Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 50ml single cream
- Fresh grated parmesan
Method:
- Heat your oven to 200 degrees and add the halved cherry tomatoes to an oven proof dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add some fresh basil and cook for 25 minutes in the oven.
- Next, fill up a large saucepan with some water and put it on to boil ready for the pasta.
- Now, get a frying pan and add olive oil. Start by frying the onion, garlic and chilli on a medium heat for around 5 minutes.
- Next, add the sundried tomatoes to the onions and the n’duja. Stir thoroughly before adding the tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper then turn it down to simmer.
- Your pasta water should be boiling now so measure out the rigatoni and put it on to cook.
- While the pasta is cooking, you can finish making the sauce. Add the mascarpone and stir it in – it will take a couple of minutes to melt down. When it has, add the cream and stir through.
- When your pasta is cooked, drain it and add 1 tbsp of the pasta water to the sauce.
- Remove the tomatoes from the oven and add them to the sauce along with the rigatoni. Stir through thoroughly and add freshly grated parmesan and basil.
Enjoy! x
Gemma and Life 