Sunday Kitchen: Masterchef winner Tim Read’s ‘nduja bucatini recipe

Chef Tim Read. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Since winning the final Season of NZ MasterChef in 2016, Tim Read has written a cookbook called Gather and is now primarily based in Europe. On Sundays he likes to get experimental in the kitchen. Here he shares a typical end-of-week scenario.

What does Sunday look like in your kitchen?

Sunday is a day of quality time for my wife and I so our food reflects that. We put a pot of filter coffee on, bring out the crossword book and usually I'll poach eggs for breakfast. Sunday evening is a chance for my wife to request what's for dinner and it usually ends up being a cockle warmer. We eat very healthy during the week so weekends are an opportunity to indulge ourselves a little and eat those meals you crave during the week. Together in the afternoon we head out and buy the ingredients and then I have a chance to creatively riff with her idea. I love our Sunday dinners for this reason, a chance to be creative, cook seasonally and then curl up on the couch and spend time together.

Why have you chosen to share this dish?

Pasta is a go-to for my wife and me. A dish like this is pretty fast, super tasty and can be altered with whatever you can get your hands on. Sometimes a certain spice, vegetable, pasta shape or meat will take my fancy at the supermarket and then the riffing starts. If you can get the pasta sauce in this recipe right and understand the process, with enough cling to the pasta but not gluggy in texture, you can do any pasta sauce yourself with what you have in the fridge. 'Nduja is a fridge staple for us and a personal favourite so it's a great place to start.

'Nduja bucatini. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

'Nduja bucatini

Bucatini is a slightly thicker spaghetti so has more of a bite to it but holds a thicker sauce to it than thinner pastas.

1 Tbsp hot paprika flakes 1 Tbsp olive oil Black pepper 2 sprigs thyme 4 sprigs oregano 30g 'nduja 20g butter 2 shallots, finely diced ¼ cup red wine 2 Tbsp sherry vinegar 150g chopped canned tomato, high quality 20g parmesan, plus more for seasoning 2 serves of bucatini Salt

1. Bring a pot of heavily salted water to the boil. In another large pan, add the paprika flakes, olive oil, a good grind of black pepper and the herb leaves picked off the stem. Cook on medium-low heat until fragrant. Add the 'nduja, butter and shallots to the pan and continue cooking until the 'nduja has rendered down, approx. 6 minutes.

2. Once you have a cohesive but fatty mixture in your pan, add the red wine and vinegar and reduce down until only a couple of tablespoons of liquid remains in the pan. Add the canned tomato and parmesan and turn down the heat.

3. Place the bucatini in the boiling water and cook until flexible but not cooked all the way through. Add the pasta to the tomato mix along with half a cup of pasta water. Turn to medium heat and continually stir until the pasta has finished cooking through and the sauce has thickened. Take off the heat, season with parmesan, pepper and salt, give it one last good stir and plate up.