Preparazione
Knead the semola with about 200 ml warm water and a pinch of salt; rest 20 minutes.
30 minRoll ropes, cut 8 cm lengths, and wrap each diagonally around a thin rod; slide off and let the spirals dry on semolina while you cook.
35 minSoften the onion in the oil over low heat. Add the ’nduja and let it melt completely, mashing, until the oil glows orange, 3 to 4 minutes; never let it fry hard.
6 minAdd the tomatoes, crushing them by hand, a pinch of salt, and simmer 15 minutes to a thick, brick-red sauce.
15 minBoil the fileja in well-salted water until tender with a firm spiral heart, 5 to 7 minutes.
7 minToss pasta and sauce with a ladle of cooking water until every spiral is loaded inside and out. Off the heat, half the pecorino and the basil.
2 minPlate with the remaining pecorino and a warning, in that order.
Consigli dello Chef
- Melt low, never fry: Hard heat scorches the chile and splits the fat. ’Nduja wants to dissolve like butter with opinions.
- Dose to your table: Eighty grams hums, a hundred sings, more shouts. Real Spilinga ’nduja varies in fire, so taste the melted base before the tomatoes commit you.
- A spoonful of the same melted ’nduja, ungoverned by tomato, on warm bread with Tropea onion is Calabria’s shortest great recipe; consider it while the pasta boils.
