You can rustle up this easy pasta dish using ingredients you probably already have in your store-cupboard and fridge. Big strong flavours from anchovies, garlic and chilli are transformed into an amazing sauce using some of the starchy pasta cooking water and lots of freshly grated Parmesan. Recipe adapted from Real Life Recipes by Tom Kerridge.
Prep
5 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
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Ingredients
spaghetti 400 g
garlic cloves 4 (sliced)
chilli flakes pinch
butter 20 g
anchovies in oil 30 g
flat leaf parsley 1 handful (chopped)
Parmesan 80 g
Method
Cook the spaghetti
Half-fill a medium saucepan with boiling water, season with salt, and place over a high heat. Add your spaghetti to the boiling water and stir it gently as it softens. (The reason for the smaller amount of water than usual is so that it will have a greater concentration of starch from the pasta; this starch will help emulsify your sauce.). Cook for 8 minutes until your pasta is al dente or ‘just cooked’.
Keep some of the cooking pasta water for making your sauce.
Make the pasta sauce
Peel and slice the garlic cloves. Chop the fresh parsley. Grate the Parmesan, unless already grated.
Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add a dash of oil. When the pan begins to heat up, toss in the garlic and let it sizzle gently for a minute or so. Add the anchovies and stir, so they melt into the oil. Add the chilli flakes
When the spaghetti is cooked, use tongs to lift it from the saucepan and place it directly in the frying pan. Add a good half-ladleful of pasta water too.
Sprinkle in the chopped parsley and Parmesan and toss the pasta until the sauce starts to emulsify, then add the butter. Taste to check the seasoning, adding pepper and salt if needed.
Plate up
Transfer the spaghetti to warmed bowls, add a little more Parmesan, if you like, and tuck in straight away.
