Over the last five years, Underground Food Collective has slowly and meticulously weaved itself into the Madison food scene.
The collective is made up of a catering service, a meat processing facility, a butcher shop, and a restaurant called Forequarter that was named one of Bon Appétit’s Top 50 New Restaurants of 2014. The chef behind the enterprise, Jonny Hunter, was nominated this year for the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Midwest.
Before Forequarter, there was Underground Kitchen, a restaurant that Jason and I dined at during many early-in-our-relationship dates. I remember where I was when I found out that Underground Kitchen burned down—boarding a plane from Cincinnati on my way home from a particularly arduous week at a client site. I shed many tears.
Then Jason and I moved into a town house together, and as a gift for our ongoing commitment to each other, Forequarter opened just a block from our house. It became our neighborhood bar (how lucky we were to call this our local hangout), and I was always marveled by the meals I ate there. I was so inspired by their lentils with mushroom and pea shoot dish I had to try making my own version.
When we graduated from our town house and started looking for a bigger home, we were bummed about having to leave our neighborhood and Forequarter behind. We’ve been back since, but not as often as I’d like.
So when Underground reached out to me to see if I was interested in working with them, I nearly lost it. Of course I would be happy to feature their perfect products on my little blog. A week later, I received a box full of goodies with, unsurprisingly, beautiful packaging and design.
Summer sausage, soppresata, and something called ‘nduja, which I’d never heard of. My interest was piqued—what was this stuff?
A little Googling quickly brought me to a New York Times article from 2009, which described ‘nduja (pronounced en-DOO-ya) as “spicy pork butter,” “the red Nutella,” and “the Lady Gaga of pork products.” Now I was even more interested.
‘Nduja originally hails from the Calabria region of Italy. It’s a spicy spreadable pork product that is flavored with roasted hot peppers, wine, and a hint of smoke. It is often used to flavor sauces for pasta, tossed into scrambled eggs, or spread on crostinis.
I decided to try something new—could ‘nduja be used to make deviled eggs a little more, well, devilish?
The answer is yes. Here’s how I did it.
- 8 eggs
- 3 ounces Underground Meat's 'Nduja, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons ricotta
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- Parsley, minced, as garnish
- Place eggs single layer in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water by about two inches. Bring water to a roiling boil, cover with lid, and turn off heat. Let eggs sit for 9 minutes, then quickly drain the water and run eggs under ice cold water until they have cooled.
- Let eggs come to room temperature, then peel.
- Cut eggs in half. Scoop out and reserve yolks from 4 eggs (8 halves) and discard the remaining yolks.
- In a food processor, pulse 'nduja to break it up a little. Add olive oil, ricotta, red wine vinegar and reserved egg yolks. Pulse until smooth. Taste mixture and add additional ricotta to cut down on spiciness, if desired.
- Scoop mixture into egg white halves. Top with minced parsley.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received free product from Underground Meats. As always, I only work with products I use myself and all opinions are my own. Thanks for continuing to support Things I Made Today!
[…] a small, beautifully packaged selection of items to play around with. It’s no surprise that, just like my friend Vicky over at Things I Made Today, I was immediately drawn to the ‘nduja. Spicy, intensely flavored, and spreadable – […]
writes ‘Nudja focaccia rolls | Bowen Appétit[…] a small, beautifully packaged selection of items to play around with. It’s no surprise that, just like my friend Vicky over at Things I Made Today, I was immediately drawn to the ‘nduja. Spicy, intensely flavored, and spreadable – […]
writes ‘Nduja focaccia rolls | Bowen Appétit[…] want the savory box, which comes with a hunk of ‘nduja sausage from Underground Meats! More deviled eggs, you guys.) There you go, I just gave you breakfast and gift ideas in one post. You’re […]
writes Mascarpone, Peach, and Chamomile Stuffed French Toast - Things I Made TodayLove Underground Meats and so happy they deliver to the Chicago area! I’m making your nduja eggs – what do you suggest for good pairings as part of a meal?
writes Cathy T2siliceous
writes 1clothes