‘Nduja is a spicy, spreadable, pork salame originating from Calabria and is appearing on just as many menus and recipes as chorizo as an ingredient.
Chorizo and ’nduja do play similar culinary roles — adding heat, depth, richness and a lovely red hue to dishes — but they come from different traditions and behave differently in cooking. Here’s what they have in common:
What chorizo and ’nduja share
1. Pork-based, chilli-driven cured products
Both are made primarily from pork, and both rely on chilli for flavour, colour and gentle (or not-so-gentle!) heat.
2. Paprika/pepper–rich seasoning
Spanish chorizo uses pimentón (sweet, hot, or smoked paprika), while Calabrian ’nduja uses peperoncino.
Different chillies, but both produce: a deep brick-red colour, a smoky or fruity heat, a rich aroma when heated.
3. High-fat mixtures that melt beautifully
Both rely on a good amount of pork fat: Chorizo releases seasoned fat when cooked, ’Nduja essentially is a spicy, spreadable fat
Either way, they enrich sauces, soups and braises.
4. Versatile “flavour builders”
In cooking, both act almost like a seasoning: Melt into pasta sauces, Flavour beans, lentils, stews,Work with seafood (especially prawns, mussels, cuttlefish), Pair well with potatoes, eggs, and greens.
5. Traditional, regional farmhouse products
Both originate as rustic, home-cured, regional foods: Chorizo: Spain (with Portuguese chouriço as a cousin), ’Nduja: Calabria, especially Spilinga.
Each reflects local ingredients — paprika in Iberia, peperoncino in Calabria.
The main difference is texture: chorizo is firm and sliceable, while ’nduja is soft, spreadable and melts almost instantly into sauces. Chorizo gives you bites of seasoned meat; ’nduja gives you a silky, smoky warmth that flavours a whole dish. Different personalities, but the same family — and both guaranteed to make food taste bigger, bolder and more interesting.
Chorizo is a firm, sliceable sausage, while ’nduja is a soft, spreadable, intensely spicy fermented paste — but both deliver pork, chilli and smoky depth to whatever you cook and both guaranteed to make food taste bigger, bolder and more interesting.
A recipe for Calamari and ‘Nduja or chorizo
CALABRIA and INTRODUCTION
Calabria, the rugged toe of Italy’s boot, has always been defined by the sea. With nearly 780 kilometres of coastline — from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian — the region’s cooking draws deeply on fishing, preserving, and coastal trade that have shaped Calabrian life for more than two thousand years.
Along the coasts, small fishing villages such as Scilla, Pizzo, Tropea, Soverato, and Chianalea lived by the catch: swordfish, anchovies, sardines, octopus, calamari, prawns, and mussels. Much of this seafood was eaten fresh, but equally important were the ancient preserving traditions — salting, drying, fermenting, and bottling — which allowed communities to survive winter scarcity and seasonal storms. Calabrians became masters of stretching simple ingredients into deeply flavoured dishes.
Throughout history, Calabria sat on key Mediterranean trade routes. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Spanish brought spices, citrus, wheat, and new techniques. The most revolutionary arrival was the chilli pepper, introduced from the Americas in the 16th century. Calabrians adopted it with enthusiasm, using it to season and preserve everything from seafood to pork. Over time it became a defining flavour of the region, giving birth to iconic foods such as ’nduja, the fiery, spreadable salume of Spilinga, often combined with seafood to create rich, coastal dishes full of heat and depth.
Seafood today remains central to Calabrian cooking. Families still prepare traditional dishes such as Calamari with ‘nduja.
If you don’t have ’nduja on hand, Spanish chorizo makes an excellent alternative. It brings the same paprika-rich warmth and savoury depth, just with a firmer texture. Either way, this dish is quick, rustic, and full of personality — the kind of simple coastal cooking you’d find in a trattoria overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.
CALABRESE Calamari with ’Nduja (or Chorizo) and Tomato
INGREDIENTS
Calabrese Pasta with Calamari, ’Nduja & Tomato
Calamarata ’nduja e calamari — spicy, rich and deeply southern Italian.
Calamarata (sometimes misspelled calamata) is a short, thick, ring-shaped pasta that looks like slices of calamari(squid rings).
It is a traditional pasta shape from Campania, especially around Naples, but it is now popular throughout southern Italy — including Calabria — for pairing with seafood.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 400 g pasta
Traditional: calamarata
Alternatives: paccheri, mezze maniche, or spaghetti
- 500–600 g calamari, cleaned and cut into rings (tentacles included)
- 2–3 tsp ’nduja
(Adjust depending on heat level and strength of your ’nduja) OR (or 100g chorizo, diced small)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 small red onion or shallot, finely chopped
- 200–250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
or 1 cup tomato passata
- ½ glass dry white wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional but deepens flavour)
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of Calabrian peperoncino (optional extra heat)
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- Optional:
- A few capers (very Calabrian)
- Lemon zest
Method
- Prepare the calamari
Clean well, pat dry and cut into 1–1.5 cm rings.
Leave tentacles whole or halve them.
- Sauté the aromatics
Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan.
Add onion and cook gently until soft and translucent.
Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the ’nduja or chorizo
-
If using ’nduja: let it melt into the onions, stirring until it becomes a rich red paste. If using chorizo: fry the diced pieces until they release their paprika-coloured oil into the onion mixture until you have a deep red, fragrant base.
- Add the calamari
Increase heat slightly and add the calamari.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook for 2–3 minutes until opaque.
Add the white wine and let it evaporate.
- Build the sauce Add:
- tomatoes or passata
- tomato paste (optional)
- capers (if using)
- a pinch of Calabrian chilli
- Simmer gently for 20–25 minutes.
Calamari should be soft and tender, not rubbery.
Add a splash of water if the sauce thickens too much.
I have already written a post about ‘NDUJA and a recipe for ‘Nduja and Squid as a pasta sauce – SPAGHETTI with ‘NDUJA, SQUID, VONGOLE AND PAN GRATTATO. If you enjoy spicy food, it is worth doing.
See vegetable: CIME DI RAPE
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I prefer to grill squid on high heat for a short time; Italians (includes Sicilians) generally prefer to cook it on medium–low heat for longer.
