Visiting Italy?Salted anchovies are a staple of my pantry.
They are a “flavor booster“ and the reason – Liguria old cook knew without knowing – is that they bring umami to any dish. Umami, what? Umami is the 5th sense of taste (jointly with sweet, salty, sour and bitter) discovered at the beginning of 1900 by a Japanese scientist. It simply brings savoriness to the dishes. For more info on the fascinating word of Umami check the official Umami website.
In Ligurian cuisine we add them as a base to many sauces, stews, soffritto, just because it enhances the flavors of dishes without living any fish taste.
But, they are also a great ingredient on their own, especially when you are in a rush and you want to prepare a very last minute pasta.
This is my dinner saving recipe. I make it in 10 minutes when I have an empty fridge or an empty mind.
Enjoy!
Pasta with salted anchovies
Ingredients
- 300 g of linguini
- 50 g of breadcrumbs
- 5 tablespoons of EVO oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 red chilli pepper
- 4 salted anchovies fillets, cleaned
- 1 tablespoon of pine nuts
- Dried oregano
Instructions
- Boil pasta in plenty of salted water.
- Pour in a skillet the oil, the garlic pealed, the chili pepper cut in pieces, the anchovies fillets and pine nuts. Let brown for 5 minutes over low heat.
- Add a pinch of dried oregano, the breadcrumbs and pour the pasta just drained.
- Toss with the sauce for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
- Sprinkle with dried oregano and some breadcrumbs.
- Serve hot.
