How to make ‘Nduja

1. 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
2. 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)
3. Add the salt and Cure No. 2 to the pork mixture
4. Add the dried and fresh chillies along with the paprika
5. 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
6. The filling should be sticky in texture and orange in colour when thoroughly combined. It is now ready to stuff into the ox bung
7. 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
8. Form a compact ball of the filling, then repeat with the remaining three-quarters of filling to create 4 mounds
9. 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
10. Tie another knot a few centimetres down to secure the next ‘nduja
11. Repeat the process until you have 4 distinct balls of ‘nduja
12. Separate each ‘nduja with a knife. You are now ready to truss each one for hanging
13. Tie another knot around the top of the ‘nduja and wrap string around it lengthways, securing the string again at the top
14. Make another loop around the ‘nduja sideways, securing once again
15. Repeat the process so there are four loops of string around the ‘nduja in total
16. 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
17. 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)

Serving Suggestion

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