Shrimp + Nduja Pasta

Shrimp and nduja is one of those perfect flavor combinations that needs almost nothing else. The sweetness of shrimp and the smokiness of nduja are exactly what makes them so good together.

I had nduja for the first time at one of my favorite restaurants growing up, O lar. It was a simple side dish of shrimp with tons of garlic and nduja, served with little crostinis — not much can beat that. So I guess you could say this is a take on that.

Not many notes here — it’s a very straightforward recipe with a few additions that boost the flavor. I think the cream mellows out the spiciness of the nduja nicely and creates an almost vodka-like sauce that’s tomatoey without much tomato. The oregano gives a gentle herby note that works really well with nduja as well. And lastly, the rock shrimp brings a different crunch and texture than what you might be used to. It’s extremely meaty and delicate — more so than regular shrimp, I think. They almost always come cleaned and ready to cook. One of the best parts about pipe rigate is that the rock shrimp fit almost perfectly inside, so you’ll often get bites of pasta that are stuffed with shrimp which I think is rather perfect.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup nduja