Fileja alla 'Nduja

Ingredients

• For the fileja
• 400 g plain durum wheat semolina flour (or "00" flour)
• 200 ml water, lukewarm
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the sauce
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled, left whole
• 120 g 'nduja, at room temperature, casing removed
• 60 ml dry white wine
• 400 g crushed tomatoes, passata or hand-crushed tinned San Marzano
• To finish
• 50 g ricotta salata, aged, finely grated

Method

1. 1
   Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the lukewarm water gradually, mixing until a shaggy dough forms, then turn out and knead for 8–10 minutes until the dough is smooth, firm, and no longer sticky. Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it springs back slowly but completely when pressed with a finger.
2. 2
   Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it into a thin rope roughly 8 cm long and 5 mm in diameter. Lay the ferro (a 3 mm metal knitting needle or squared skewer) against the rope at a 45-degree angle. Press lightly and roll the ferro away from you with a firm, even motion so the dough wraps around it in a spiral. Slide the fileja off and set on a lightly floured tray. Repeat with the remaining dough. The finished fileja should be hollow, with defined ridges that trap sauce.
3. 3
   Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy sauté pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and let it colour gently until golden and fragrant, then remove and discard it. Add the 'nduja and press it into the oil with a spoon. This is where the dish lives or dies: the 'nduja must melt and dissolve completely into the oil, releasing its pork fat and chile pigment into a unified, rust-red emulsion — any solid lumps of 'nduja remaining will render the sauce uneven and the emulsion unstable. Stir continuously for 2–3 minutes until no solid mass remains.
4. 4
   Pour in the white wine and let it reduce for 1 minute, then add the crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine and simmer over medium-low heat for no more than 15 minutes. The sauce should be bright, spicy, and lightly thickened — extended cooking dulls the tomato's freshness. Taste for salt.
5. 5
   Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the fileja until al dente — fresh fileja will take 3–5 minutes depending on thickness; bite a piece to confirm there is still faint resistance at the centre. Reserve at least 200 ml of the starchy cooking water before draining.
6. 6
   Transfer the drained fileja directly into the sauce over medium heat. Add a generous splash of pasta water and toss vigorously for 1–2 minutes. The starch from the pasta water binds the pork fat and tomato into a glossy, clinging emulsion that coats every spiral. The sauce should not pool at the bottom of the pan; it should move with the pasta as a single, cohesive mass.
7. 7
   Divide among warmed bowls and finish immediately with a shower of finely grated aged ricotta salata. Serve at once.