This is a dish from Apulia in Italy; a pasta dish my father Denton recorded in his handwritten journal in the port of Taranto in the 1960s. The darkish colour of the sauce comes from the use of finely minced black olives. It's not a "fast" dish, but it's a great dish.
Altamente
Apulian pasta with tomato sauce and 'nduja is another of the dishes my dad learned and documented during his maritime adventures in the 1960s. It's a recipe he managed to sweet talk out of the proprietor of a tiny osteria he found in Taranto. Denton was very good at that. He could charm the recipes out of lovely people all around the world. The pasta is served with a deep, slow-cooked tomato sauce that also includes capers, red bell peppers and black olives as lead flavours. If you don't have the capacity to mince the black olives, you can always used the "cheat" of a black olive tapenade, but this will make them slightly more present in the dish than the genius of the minced olives that simply melt away as "things" and meld into the flavours.
My father was utterly entranced by Italian regional cooking and this is another recipe that made it into his journals, one he later taught me and (tried to teach) my siblings.
The spine of this dish is classic Italian tomato sauce; a sugo. Here it's transformed with the flavours of smoked garlic, red bell peppers, capers and black olives that, rather unusually, are finely minced before being added. It's cooked slowly for at least three hours. It's best prepared at least 24 hours before serving, but it can be cooked in larger batches: it stores well in the fridge for at least three days; even longer if frozen.
My father's recipe traditionally used troccoli. That's one of those pastas not so easy to find outside of Italy, not as popular as others with better PR. If you can get your hands on it, I thoroughly recommend it. Otherwise, substitute longer, thicker pastas. For example, I'm cooking it here with pappardelle. It also works well with tagliatelle, linguine, paccheri or good old spaghetti; dried or fresh.
This is another of his recipes that uses "anchovy sauce". I usually cook it with Geo Watkins Anchovy Sauce, widely available in the UK and beyond. However, you can use a decent Worcestershire Sauce, always made with anchovies, more widely available globally.
Please note that the images here are for a larger quantity than the baseline recipe below; roughly double quantities. This was the dish for our inaugural outing of Pasta Club last night—watch this space—and I wanted to cook it for this special occasion precisely because of how close it is to my culinary heart.
Shopping list
For the Apulian pasta with tomato sauce and 'nduja
Enough pappardelle per diner (approx. 90g per diner, dried)
2 medium brown onions, cubed
6 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
1 vegetable stock cube
A 400g can peeled plum tomatoes, in their juice
4 tspns of smoked garlic; cubed
2 heaped tbspns tomato purée
3 sticks of celery, finely sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cubed
4 tbspns of finely minced black olives (or tapenade)
3 tbspns whole small capers
Approx. 100g young spinach, chopped
5 tspns dried oregano
2 tbpsns anchovy sauce (or alternatives; see above)
120g spinach, fresh or frozen; finely chopped
400ml dry white wine
black pepper/salt to taste
'Nduja to taste; served at table
Parmesan (or similar hard cheese), grated; served at table
For the salad
Green leaves of choice —I'm using "little gem" lettuce as the lead flavour here
Cucumber, finely sliced
dressing: balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
Cooking method
In a large pot with a lid, heat the oil on a medium-to-high heat. When hot, add the smoked garlic. Sizzle until it turns golden. Add the onions; stir, cover and sweat, adding a dash of wine, stirring if necessary to prevent sticking
When the onions soften, add the celery and mix in. Sauté, covered, for about 5mins, adding a little more wine if needed to prevent sticking
When the onions and celery are well on their way to softening, add the red bell pepper and stir in. Season with black pepper—because of the stock in the next stage, you don't need to add salt. Add half of the oregano to the top of the ingredients without stirring. Cover and sweat for 5 or 6mins
Once the red pepper starts to soften, add half of the remaining white wine. Stir, re-cover and simmer on a medium-to-low heat until all ingredients are tender
Add the peeled plum tomatoes and their juice. Add the remaining oregano and wine. Stir, cover and increase the heat, Boil at a high heat for 5mins
Add the tomato purée and vegetable stock cube to the empty tomato can. Fill with boiling water and stir. Pour into the pot, stir, re-cover and boil for a further 5mins
Reduce to a medium-to-low heat. Cover and simmer for 30mins, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking
After 30mins, add the anchovy sauce and minced black olives. Re-cover and simmer for a further 15mins. Then reduce to a very low heat—so the ingredients barely simmer—and cook for approximately an additional 2.5 hours, stirring every 15mins
This sauce will naturally reduce. It doesn't need any of the usual "tricks" to thicken if cooking slowly over three hours. If it becomes too thick, stir in a little water to prevent sticking
When the sauce has been cooking for nearly three hours, add the chopped spinach and stir in
In that last 15 minutes or so, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add your chosen pasta and cook for 12 to 14mins; until al dente. Drain and return to the pot, dressing with a little olive oil. Cover and allow to rest
Plate the pasta, spoon on the sauce in desired quantities and serve with the salad and rustic bread of choice (optional). Diners should spoon on the amount of 'Nduja they want at table when they sprinkle the grated parmesan onto their pasta.
Alternatives
This is effectively a vegan dish (save for the anchovy sauce; simply substitute with additional minced black olives)—until you spoon on the 'nduja and parmesan at table. Of course, you might want to make choices about pasta that does not include eggs.
Thus, it's one of my "go to" Italian dishes when feeding a mixed group of diners that include vegans, veggies and carnivores, precisely because it is so adaptable.
I've never tried a pescatarian version, but I can honestly say that this dish is delicious without the 'nduja: I've probably cooked it more times without it than with.
Pairings
The deep flavours of this dish really demand a red. I probably should have paid closer attention last night, because the reds the assembled company brought worked very well. But, hey, I was both tipsy and cooking, so I'll have to get back to them...
As always, we will ask Karel. But, for what my opinion is worth, two that have worked fabulously with this dish in the past are Ramón Bilbao Rioja Reserva and Cabalié
Côtes Catalanes 2022. Okay, so I know I should probably be looking to a good red from Apulia. But, sadly, they're as difficult to find in the UK as the troccoli.
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