Homemade 'Nduja Recipe - Great British Chefs

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medium
Makes 4 large 'nduja
60 minutes, plus 2 weeks to 3 months to cure

PT1H

If you fancy making charcuterie at home, then 'nduja is a great place to start. The fatty, fiery, spreadable Italian sausage does require a mincer, but the rest can be done by hand. If you don't have a curing chamber then you can hang it in the fridge for a fresher final product.

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Ingredients

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2kg pork back fat, chilled
800g of pork mince, lean, chilled
30g of dried chillies, blitzed into a powder
200g of red chillies, blitzed into a paste
60g of smoked paprika
56g of fine salt
9g of curing salt, often called Cure No. 2 (get this from specialist curing retailers online)
1 ox bung, soaked in cold water for 4 hours

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Method

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Before you begin, place the bowl of a stand mixer (or a very large mixing bowl) into the freezer to chill and get all of your ingredients ready

Set up a meat mincer with the finest mincing plate attached. Mince the pork back fat and pork mince, then place in the frozen mixing bowl (you can also get your butcher to mince these for you if you don’t have a mincer at home)

2kg pork back fat, chilled
800g of pork mince, lean, chilled

Add the salt and Cure No. 2 to the pork mixture

56g of fine salt
9g of curing salt, often called Cure No. 2 (get this from specialist curing retailers online)

Add the dried and fresh chillies along with the paprika

30g of dried chillies, blitzed into a powder
200g of red chillies, blitzed into a paste
60g of smoked paprika

Using your hands or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine all the ingredients until a sticky paste forms. You may also need to complete this step in batches depending on the size of your bowl

The filling should be sticky in texture and orange in colour when thoroughly combined. It is now ready to stuff into the ox bung

Drain the ox bung and wash it under running water. Stretch it out, find the opening and insert your arm into it to loosen. Take a quarter of the filling and start filling the ox bung with it, pushing it all to the end

1 ox bung, soaked in cold water for 4 hours

Form a compact ball of the filling, then repeat with the remaining three-quarters of filling to create 4 mounds

Separate the mounds and twist the bung a few times to create a gap between each ‘nduja, then tie a knot around the first ‘nduja to secure it in place

Tie another knot a few centimetres down to secure the next ‘nduja

Repeat the process until you have 4 distinct balls of ‘nduja

Separate each ‘nduja with a knife. You are now ready to truss each one for hanging

Tie another knot around the top of the ‘nduja and wrap string around it lengthways, securing the string again at the top

Make another loop around the ‘nduja sideways, securing once again

Repeat the process so there are four loops of string around the ‘nduja in total

Leave a little loop at the top of the ‘nduja for hanging. Repeat this process with the other 3. They are now ready to cure

At this point, you can cold-smoke the ‘nduja for 8 hours or place them directly into a curing chamber. Kuba recommends a humidity of 80% and a temperature of 12°C for a minimum of 1 month or no more than 3 months. If you don’t have a curing chamber, you can hang the ‘nduja in the fridge for 2 weeks instead. This will result in a wetter, fresher flavour, and means the ‘nduja must be cooked before eating (like sausage meat)

Spread the ‘nduja on top of bruschetta and grill, stir it into pasta sauces or use it to stuff chicken

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Kuba Winkowski

From moving to England at twenty-four to attend catering college to being named National Chef of The Year 2019, Kuba Winkowski has rocketed to the top in record time. His cooking is refined, peppered with Polish influences and – most importantly – delicious.