Nduja Stuffed Paccheri with Fior di Latte

Nduja is a spreadable, spicy pork sausage that comes from the region of Calabria in southern Italy. For this delicious and easy recipe, I have made a tomato sauce with onions, peppers, and nduja, simmered to perfection, and stuffed inside paccheri pasta.

Paccheri is a very large tube-shaped pasta easy for stuffing and creating the most delectable, sauce-filled bites! Video link.

Chef notes:

I used gluten-free noodles but you may want to try using large shells or rigatoni tossed with the sauce instead of stuffed.

Yield: serves 2

Preparation time: 1 hour

Cook time: 35 minutes

1 tbsp canola oil

1 yellow onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

5 oz nduja sausage

14 oz can of tomato sauce (Pomodoro sauce)

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

7 oz dried paccheri pasta

½ ball fior di latte cheese (100g), sliced

2 oz parmesan cheese, grated

• Preheat an oven to 375°F.

• In a frying pan on high heat add the canola oil.

• Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.

• Add the garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.

• Tear the nduja sausage into pieces, add them to the pan, and mix.

• Now, add the tomato sauce and turn the heat down to a low simmer.

• Fill a separate saucepot with salted water and bring it to a boil on high heat.

• Add the pasta and cook for 12–15 minutes. I have used gluten-free pasta for this recipe but use regular if you prefer and adjust the cooking time as instructed on the package.

• Strain the cooked pasta and place it onto a tray to cool.

• Turn the heat off the nduja sauce.

• Add a small amount of the sauce to the bottom of an oven-proof dish.

• Stand all the pasta shells hole side up, packed together to fill the dish.

• Add the rest of the sauce to a piping bag and pipe sauce into each pasta shell.

• Place the sliced fior di latte on top of the filled pasta and sprinkle with half of the grated parmesan.

• Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling. Remove the pasta from the oven, add the rest of the parmesan, and enjoy!

©chefalisonbiebs