'Nduja carbonara with duck eggs

We're playing fast and loose with a classic here, in the name of creating a tasty lunch with what's in the cupboard. With an 'nduja craving raging, we had to put something together to hit a very specific spot The result is a quick and easy meal, packed with flavour and fire.

You can substitute whatever pasta you have. We used tagliatelle, because it's what was there. You could also switch out the duck eggs for hens eggs. Owing to a tasty market trip, duck eggs also happened, for the first and only time, to be what we had in. 

This recipe is all about the 'nduja really, which is so powerful and porky we've replaced the more traditional guanciale, or the more typical pancetta entirely.

The recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 150g pasta (we used tagliatelle)
• 100g 'nduja sausage
• 2 x duck eggs (or swap for hen eggs)
• 75ml dry white wine (we used Pecorino)
• 75g parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 x large clove of garlic, peeled, broken but whole
• Olive oil
• Black pepper
• Salt

Method

1. Get a large pan of boiling salted water on.
2. Heat another pan over a medium-high heat.
3. Put the pasta on and get boiling until al dente.
4. Meanwhile, add a whisper of olive oil to the other pan and fry the 'nduja, alone for a couple of minutes stirring frequently. Don't let it burn.
5. Add the garlic clove and the wine to the 'nduja and boil off the alcohol (reduce by 1/2 to 2/3)
6. Meanwhile, meanwhile, beat the eggs and season with salt and black pepper. Keep these on one side.
7. When the pasta is done, use tongues or a slotted spoon/scoop to transfer the pasta to the 'nduja pan. Don't drain it, because we want a spot of starchy water for the sauce and if you do, you'll have a dirty colander to wash up that you didn't need to.
8. Stir the pasta well to coat in the 'nduja and wine. Add in the cheese and mix it all well.
9. Take the whole thing off the heat and add the beaten eggs, stirring continuously while the sauce thickens. Like a creme Anglais, it'll be done when you can draw a line through the liquid at the bottom of the pan with a spoon, and it doesn't immediately get recovered by sauce. If this is taking too long and you have no patience (anathema moment coming up), turn the heat back on gently and stir constantly until the sauce thickens. This will happen quickly and it's really easy to overcook it - you have been warned!
10. Serve up and devour.