Pasta with Nduja sauce and shrimp (prawns) 

Spicy seafood fans are bound to love this vibrant Italian pasta with nduja sauce and shrimp. Made with spicy Calabrian nduja sausage, red onions, canned cherry tomatoes, fresh parsley and large shrimp (prawns), this is a super easy pasta dish. Perfect for weeknights or date nights! Ready in just 30 minutes.

What is nduja?

Nduja is a soft, spicy spreadable salami from Calabria. It’s usually made with pork meat, often from the throat, underbelly, head and shoulder, a bit of fat, salt and a lot of peperoncino (Italian red chili peppers). Although relatively unknown outside of Italy a few years ago, nduja has become a sought after ingredient with chefs and home cooks alike.

You should be able to find it in Italian speciality food stores or online. In the US, nduja is sold in Tesco, Trader Joes and Wholefoods.  If you’re in the UK, they have it in Tesco or Waitrose. If you can’t find nduja, you could use red pepper flakes or a chili paste in this recipe instead.

Alternatively, use another spicy sausage such as Spanish sobrassada which is also spreadable or chorizo. The latter will need to be chopped and then processed to make a paste as it's much harder than nduja.

You can read more about the history of nduja and how it is made in my classic pasta with nduja recipe post.

What is fileja pasta?

I made this pasta with nduja sauce and shrimp using a traditional pasta shape from Calabria called fileja. Fileja is ‘the’ pasta served with nduja sauce in Calabria. This is a flour and water pasta shape, originally homemade using a metal rod (ferro). Fileja is a chunky and thick mid-size pasta. It’s shorter than spaghetti but longer than rigatoni. 

For this recipe I used dried fileja my son brought me back from Tropea in Calabria. However, nduja sauce pairs well with short pasta such as paccheri, penne or fusilli. But, you can use spaghetti if you prefer. Orecchiette is also popular with nduja in Southern Italy.

Other ingredients.

Apart from the pasta and Nduja, this recipe has just a few other ingredients.

Shrimp or prawns: for best results use large shrimp, also called prawns in UK, Australia and New Zealand. You can use fresh or frozen crustaceans. Both will need to be cleaned, peeled and deveined if not already done. However, I like to leave some unpeeled, just heads removed, because it makes the dish look extra special.

Onions: I used red Calabrian onions for my pasta with nduja and shrimp. Calabria is famous for its red Tropea onions. These are mild sweet onions and the traditional choice for nduja sauce. Of course, you can use other types of sweet red onions instead. You can also replace the onion with garlic cloves if you prefer.

Fresh parsley: Flat leaf Italian parsley is the only type of parsley I can find here in Italy. It has a more robust and herby flavor than curly parsley, which is used more as a garnish. But, if you only have curly parsley, use that instead. I don’t recommend dried parsley. As an alternative to parsley, fresh basil would be a good choice.

Tomatoes: This recipe calls for canned peeled tomatoes. I used peeled cherry tomatoes. I like them for their sweeter flavor and the fact that they hold their shape when cooked. Of course, other canned peeled tomatoes work well too or use passata and fresh cherry tomatoes.

Step by Step instructions and tips.

Prepare the ingredients. Peel and finely chop the onion, wash and chop the parsley, cut chunks from the nduja if you have a whole sausage. 

How much nduja you use depends on how spicy you want the dish to be. The spiciness can vary from brand to brand so taste a little first to see how much you’d like to add to the sauce. I used about 80-100 grams (2.8-3.5 ozs).

Prepare the shrimp by washing them, removing the heads, peeling most of them and deveining (removing the thin black vein along the shrimp’s back). I like to leave some shrimp tails unpeeled for flavor and aesthetics. 

Make the nduja and shrimp sauce.

1) Sauté the onion in heated olive oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan or skillet until it starts to soften. Add the shrimp and sauté for 1-2 minutes.

2) Add the chunks of nduja and mix everything together with a wooden spoon until the nduja melts.

3) Add the canned tomatoes and simmer together over a low heat for just 5-10 minutes.

4) Finally, add the fresh parsley and season with salt and black pepper as required.

Finish the dish.

5) Cook the pasta al dente in boiling salted water over a medium-high heat. When it’s ready save a cup of the pasta water and drain. Add the pasta to the nduja and shrimp tomato sauce.

6) Mix everything together well. If the sauce seems thick, pour in a little of the pasta cooking water.

Serve immediately with more fresh parsley.

What to do with leftovers.

Leftover pasta with nduja sauce and shrimp can be kept in the fridge in a sealed container for 1-2 days. You can reheat leftovers in the microwave or bake them with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs on top. 

Italians don’t use cheese with seafood. In fact, in Southern Italy breadcrumbs are a traditional substitute for grated cheese.

Let me know what you think.

When it comes to shrimp (prawn) pasta recipes, this one with nduja sauce is one of my favorites. Not only is it easy to make but it's so flavorful. I'm sure if you try it, you'll become a fan too.

If you make this nduja pasta with shrimp recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. Please leave a comment here on the blog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Buon appetito!

Pin for later.

Other seafood pasta recipes to try.

These recipes can all be spiced up with some Italian red chili flakes.

• Pasta with calamari and tomatoes.
• Spaghetti with mussels and tomato sauce alla Tarantina.
• Linguine alle vongole (with clams)
• Fregola with small clams.
• Linguine with baby octopus alla Luciana.