The dish that saves you in an emergency. When you have little time, when you need to feed someone quickly, or when you are having a late evening and suddenly that midnight hunger strikes — the kind that keeps good company going until the small hours. All you need is a few ingredients from the pantry, a few minutes, and the result is finger-licking good.
The Dish for Long Evenings
This is my emergency dish — but it has nothing to envy from the most sophisticated recipes. I cook it often and love the flavour it leaves in your mouth. I pair it with a red wine that is bold in colour and character.
If you want to talk until the early hours and need a good reason to pour more than one glass of wine — this will certainly give you one. Sometimes a little goes a long way.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 500g pasta — spaghetti, linguine or bucatini
- 90g Cantabrian anchovy fillets
- Taggiasca olives with the stone, to taste
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed with the palm
- Extra virgin olive oil — generous
- Half a tablespoon of chilli oil or 1 fresh chilli
- Salt to taste
Method
Put the water on immediately
Before anything else, get the pasta water on the heat. Salt it generously when it comes to the boil.
Make the base
In a large pan pour generous extra virgin olive oil, the chilli oil or chilli and the 3 crushed garlic cloves. Fry gently over low heat until the garlic is golden and fragrant.
Add the anchovies and olives
Add the whole Cantabrian anchovy fillets and the taggiasca olives with their stones. Leave to cook for 2 minutes over low heat — do not stir yet, let the flavours meld in the oil.
Cook the pasta
Drop the pasta into the salted boiling water and cook it 1-2 minutes less than the packet instructions. Keep aside a generous ladle of pasta cooking water.
The secret — swirl the olives
Before adding the pasta, swirl the olives around the pan with a sharp wrist movement — this causes the anchovies to dissolve completely into a dense, fragrant cream that coats everything. This is the step that makes all the difference.
Toss and serve
Add the drained pasta to the pan with a ladle of cooking water. Toss everything together over high heat for 1 minute until well combined. Plate by twisting the pasta into a nest and finish with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil.
This is my emergency dish — but it has nothing to envy from the most sophisticated recipes. Sometimes a little goes a long way.
My tips
- Cantabrian anchovies are the best — they have an intense yet delicate flavour. Do not use poor quality anchovies.
- Taggiasca olives with the stone are essential — pitted olives do not give the same flavour.
- The wrist swirling gesture is the secret — it dissolves the anchovies into a cream and binds the whole sauce.
- The pasta cooking water is essential — it creates the creaminess that holds everything together.
- Bucatini are the most indulgent choice — the hole inside traps the sauce in an extraordinary way.
- The wine to pair must be red, bold in colour and character — and generous. 😄
Leave a comment
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