New York City chef Andrew Carmellini uses Calabrian nduja, the spicy, spreadable sausage, to bring loads of delicious heat and flavor to his carbonara. I never knew of Chef Carmellini, but he’s published two cookbooks – Urban Italian in 2008, and American Flavor in 2015.

I spotted this Calabrian Carbonara recipe from Food & Wine online, and because of my love of nduja, pronounce in-doo-ya, I just had to make this!

I’ve used nduja in one pasta dish on this blog – a creamy lemon pappardelle with nduja – where the nduja really stands out. Although I see many recipes of nduja added to red sauces, I’ve resisted doing that. I just feel that one should be able to taste the nduja , as in this recipe.

Calabrian Carbonara

6 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving
1 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces nduja
Kosher salt
Pepper
Dried oregano, for sprinkling

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with the whole egg and 1/2 cup of grated cheese.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti until al denote. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the nduja and cook over moderate heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon until the fat is rendered, about 3 to 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, toss the hot pasta with the nduja. Add the egg mixture and the reserved pasta cooking water and toss aggressively until the pasta is coated in a creamy sauce, about 1 minute.

Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the pasta to shallow bowls or a platter and sprinkle with dried oregano.

Serve, passing more cheese at the table. I also served cayenne pepper flakes and whole Calabrian peppers.