The simplest pasta dishes are often the best.
Think cacio e pepe, think carbonara, think amatriciana, think gricia. Simple dishes, delivered to the mouth via the gorge vehicle that is pasta. Thank you pasta.
Not that I’m placing this recipe in the same canon as the Four Pastas of Rome, but what I’m saying is that there are familial properties between them, in that indeed, it is a bowl of pasta with incredibly simple sauces to accompany them.
And sometimes, shock, that’s all pasta needs to be.
Nobody can deny the siren call of a big bowl of wobbly pasta and the damn thing is even more tempting when the sauce takes less time to cook than the pasta does. So, this whole thing is pan to mouth in under 10 minutes. What dish is better than that?
Don’t answer with one you microwave because you’re a liar.
The gorgeousness with this recipe – as with so many on the website – is that it can be adapted to what you have available. Don’t have something, it’s almost certain it’ll be fine without. EVEN THE PASTA. The sauce (if we can even call it that) is fabulous on toast or a bagel.
But there are a million and one directions you can take this pasta which makes it a wonderfully handy recipe to have lodged in your mind.
I want to keep this intro as tight as possible, which is incredibly hard to do when a recipe can have a thousand variations. So instead, just to rattle through some opinions on ingredients, I’ve mapped some thoughts below.
- Pasta – honestly, go with anything. Preferably I’d either go with something thin and long like a linguine or a spaghetti or short and stubby like a fussili, macaroni or those little shells.
- Shallots – I like shallots for this because they have a hint of sweetness to them which is welcome with all the punchy flavours, but you could substitute a red onion.
- Anchovies – okay, they’re not for everyone, but they’re for me. I want to say you won’t notice them, but you would notice this dish without What I mean is, you won’t feel like you’re eating full blown anchovies, but without them, you do feel an absence of what I call bottom which is just the strong, baseline note that carries the dish. If you absolutely must not use them, maybe a caper. MAYBE.
- Garlic – you need it. Don’t lose it. Add more if you want.
- Sundried tomatoes – the 90’s phoned and want their snack back. They can’t have it, it’s mine. I love sundried tomatoes so much, and I think so much of the ruby sharp spike of this meal is due to the sundried tomatoes. Ideally I’d want the ones packed in oil, however I am very prone to buy those semi-dried tomatoes from the antipasti part of the fridge in the supermarket, which I sometimes have leftover. So, I use them instead, which tend to come in their own garlic, so I when using I only add as much extra garlic as I have the nerve for.
- Red wine vinegar – use any vinegar you have, except malt.
- Parsley – I love it but it’s not 100% necessary here. It will be fabulous with and without.
- Parmesan – as above.
- Chilli flakes – that too.
One remaining thought – don’t reheat it. I tried taking some into work the next day and there’s something about the tomatoes and anchovies that just don’t appreciate being reheated.
But that’s a blessing. Eat it cold, like a pasta salad, and it will still be great. Better hot and fresh though, just saying. But who doesn’t need an excuse to eat the whole damn thing in one?
Me right here.
Serves 2
(For thoughts, details, and substitutions on below ingredients, see intro)
2 tbs olive oil
3 shallots (sliced thinly)
200g pasta
1 tbs tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
1 can anchovies (drained)
40 – 50g sundried tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
A handful of fresh parsley (finely chopped)
A grating of fresh Parmesan
Chilli flake (optional)
- Fill and boil a kettle and while it comes to a boil, warm the olive oil in a large saucepan with high sides on a medium heat. Once warm, add the shallots with a little salt.
- Cook the shallots, stirring slowly every now and then, until they begin to soften and turn a golden brown, which should take between 20 and 30 minutes. If they start catching a little more than you’re happy with, just drop the heat or add a tiny, tiny splash of cold water to the pan.
- Once the shallots have started to caramelise, fill a large saucepan with the recently boiled water, put it on a high heat, and bring it to a rolling boil.
- Generously salt the water, add the pasta and stir, cooking this for roughly 9 – 10 minutes. In this time, we roll on with the sauce.
- To the pan of caramelised shallots, add the tomato paste and cook for 2 – 3 until the shallots are coated fox-red.
- Grate in the garlic using a fine grater, and then add the drained anchovies. Using your spoon, gently push the anchovies and garlic into the heat so that they begin to sizzle. Continue prodding them around with a wooden spoon until the anchovies start to break apart and melt, stirring them through the reddened shallots
- Add to the gorgeous redness by throwing in the chopped sundried tomatoes and red wine vinegar, stirring everything together to create a thick, deeply savoury smelling sauce.
- Take a small shot glass or so of the pasta cooking water, throw into the sauce, and cook gently for the remainder of the pasta cooking time.
- Drain your pasta and almost immediately throw it into the sauce, tossing everything so that the pasta is coated.
- Bowl up the pasta, add the parsley and a way too generous amount of Parmesan and black pepper, and serve with a little sprinkle of dried chilli flake, if using.
MIKEY BELL 