5 minute anchovy butter pasta sauce
A humble sauce and iconic pairing of butter and anchovies, made in a few minutes while the pasta cooks. It's creamy, sumptuous and a fantastic pantry/fridge raid meal.
Servings: 2 people
Ingredients
Pangrattato
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50 g dried breadcrumbs
Anchovy butter pasta sauce
- 225 g spaghetti bigoli or bucatini
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 8-12 anchovy fillets - depending on your appetite for the ol’ ‘chovy, use less if you're looking for something a little less salty
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Pangrattato
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the breadcrumbs. Toast until golden, moving the breadcrumbs around the pan frequently to prevent burning.
- Once golden, remove from the pan and set aside until ready to use.
Anchovy butter pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and generously season with salt. Add the pasta and cook for 2-3 min less than packet instructions.
- Start cooking the sauce just a few minutes before the pasta is ready.
- Melt butter and add the anchovies. Use a whisk or back of a spoon to help break these down and meld together with the butter as it browns.
- Add a 1/4 cup of pasta water to the anchovy butter and stir to emulsify.
- Drop the very al dente pasta directly into the pan and allow it to finish cooking in the sauce until perfectly al dente and the sauce has reduced. If you need to add more pasta water to loosen, go for it!
- Stir through parsley, and serve topped with pangrattato.
