The metal coffin is pried open.
Twelve baby vipers lie side by side, embalmed in oil and salt.
Let the magic begin.
Good preserved anchovies are the same colour as the “vipere” that slither through the dry brush of the hills behind my village in Italy. I have seldom seen them alive, but have found their purple and brown bodies smashed with rocks along the cobbled road leading up to the parking lot. With biblical vengeance, the contadini administer a swift blow to their skulls and let them rot in the sun for all to gape at in dread.
Today, I will put my morbidity aside and give you a few pasta recipes that use these benign but powerful little fish.
The finest Cantabrico brand from Spain was one of the first products that flew off the shelves in Zurich, but I have noticed plenty of other ones for sale. Fortunately, I have a stash that I bought at Christmas when I was last in Levanto, and will certainly be using them during the months to come.
As children, most of us hated the little buggers when those nasty strips tasting of aluminium and gargling salt were branded into the pizzas. Somewhere around 2006, David Chang converted us all to the joys of umami and we learnt to appreciate them as lock and load flavour bullets. In these strange times, they are the ultimate store cupboard staple, as one tiny can goes a very long way.
RECIPES
Spaghettini with anchovy fillets, olive purée and capers
Adapted from an old Sorrento recipe, covered by Anna del Conte in her book “Amaretto, Apple Cake and Artichokes”.
This is the dish I plan to make on Easter Monday. Shopping on the Saturday beforehand will be challenging, and all I will have to buy for it is parsley to pull it off.
Take a bite and think about a hazy September evening after the beach. Chilled white wine is flowing and you can still feel the salty waves that hit your body over and over again during your afternoon swim in the sea. Anchovies, garlic, olives, and capers will make the moment last.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon capers, preferably salted
450 g spaghettini or spaghetti
sea salt
100 ml (3.5 fl oz) dry white wine
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 dried chilis
6 anchovy fillets
large bunch of parsley
2 tablespoons olive purée or chopped black olives
Put the capers in a bowl of warm water and let them soak to get rid of the vinegar or the salt.
Chop the garlic, chilis and the parsley.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
Add the garlic, chilis, anchovies and half of the chopped parsley to the pan. Cook over a very gentle heat, crushing the anchovies with a wooden spoon to a paste. Add the wine and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
Drain and dry the capers and add to the pan along with the olive purée. Continue cooking very gently until the pasta is ready.
When the pasta is cooked, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of the pasta water to the sauce. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Add the reserved parsley. Take a fork and spoon and gently toss the pasta so that it is evenly coated.
Serve immediately.
Fettuccine with butter and anchovies
Have you made fresh pasta for the first time? Are you loath to make another tinned tomato sauce or a soporific Fettucine Alfredo? Try this instead.
Adapted from a recipe by Rachel Roddy in her book “Five Quarters”.
Serves 4
100 to 150 grams of unsalted butter
8 to 10 best anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained
500 grams of fresh or dried egg fettuccine
Salt
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add salt, stir, then add the pasta.
Put a large sauté pan on the stove and add your chunk of butter and anchovies. Turn on the stove to medium and watch the creamy, pale iceberg begin to melt. Gently crush the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon so they dissolve into the butter. The moment the mixture begins to foam, take it off the heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of hot pasta water to the pan, along with another tablespoon of butter if you think you have not used enough.
Once the pasta is ready, drain it, and add it to the pan and stir with a fork and spoon until each strand is coated with anchovy butter. Serve immediately.
Penne with anchovies tomatoes and cream
This is a dish that I make if I have good cherry tomatoes, and the ones from the supermarket are fine, too. I don’t know how it evolved in my head, but it is delicious, and any extra sauce can be served on chicken breasts with rice the next day.
Serves 4
Sea salt
400 grams of penne
A few tablespoons of olive oil
500 grams cherry or grape tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, chopped fine
1 small hot pepper, seeds removed and chopped fine
4 anchovies, drained
A dash of cream
A few sprigs of basil and/or parsley
400 grams of penne
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add salt, stir, then add the penne.
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook on medium high heat until they burst. Add the garlic, hot pepper and anchovies. Lower the heat and simmer until the flavours merge and the tomatoes are the consistency of jam. Add a few tablespoons of cream to taste, but don’t go overboard. The sauce should be the shade of wild salmon, not a pastel Easter egg. Use a bit of pasta water to loosen if it is too thick. Taste for salt.
When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the pan. Toss over very low heat with a fork and spoon, then add the basil and/or parsley.
Serve immediately.
