Culinary Explorer
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Crostini con Nduja Calabrese
Created by Chef Graziella
Warm bread, spreadable fire. Calabria's most assertive salume demands nothing more than heat and good bread to reveal its character.
Nduja is not for everyone, and that is precisely the point. This spreadable salame from Calabria contains so much peperoncino that it glows orange-red, so much pork fat that it melts on contact with warm bread. It is aggressive, unapologetic, and utterly Calabrese.
The preparation could not be simpler. Toast good bread. Spread nduja while the bread is warm. Eat. There is nothing to add, nothing to improve. The nduja contains all the salt, all the heat, all the flavor you need. What you keep out is as significant as what you put in, and here you keep out everything.
Americans want to complicate things. They add ricotta, they drizzle honey, they pile on other toppings. These additions reveal a misunderstanding. Nduja is complete. It needs only warm bread to carry it to your mouth.
Ingredients
nduja Calabrese
Quantity
6 ounces
baguette or rustic Italian bread
Quantity
12 slices
sliced 1/2 inch thick
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
for brushing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| nduja Calabrese | 6 ounces |
| baguette or rustic Italian breadsliced 1/2 inch thick | 12 slices |
| extra virgin olive oil | for brushing |
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