Spaghetti with fresh anchovies

This recipes pairs the spaghetti with the anchovies in a typical southern Italian preparation, giving life to an easy dish that is full of flavor.

  • Time

    28 minutes

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Course

    First Courses

  • Italian Region

    Molise

Ingredients

Servings 4

  • 1 lb spaghetti
  • 7 oz anchovies, fresh, de-boned
  • ⅝ lb canned tomatoes
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • chili pepper, chilly
  • 4 leaves of basil
  • 1 sprig parsley, chopped
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

Preparation

20 minutes preparation + 8 minutes cooking

In a pan, sauté in a little oil the chili and chopped garlic.
Then add the peeled tomatoes.

Leave to cook for around quarter of an hour.
Add the basil, anchovies, parsley and remaining oil: if necessary, add a ladleful of warm water.

Cook the spaghetti “al dente” and toss them in the pan with the sauce.

Add chopped parsley just before serving.

False myths

According to a legend, pasta was introduced to Italy by the Chinese.
Already in 1154, a good150 years before the return of Marco Polo from Catai, Arab sources state that near Palermo people ate “a flour-based food in the shape of strings” triyah: the ancestor to today’s spaghetti.