After a week of waistline worriment, we’re back on the pasta, lads. Made this for today’s lunch with store cupboard items and things that needed eating. It’s essentially just an Amatriciana but with the addition of the anchovy crumb to give it a bit of crunch and texture.
Serves 2
Chopped tomatoes 1 tin
Basil 2-3 good-sized leaves
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Pancetta cubed (I used Polish boczek again)
Onion half
Bucatini 200g spaghetti, linguine or any other long pasta works
Anchovies 1/2 tin
Bread 1 slice, stale or toasted
Dried chilli flakes
Oregano 1tsp dried
Pecorino cheese grated (I didn’t have any so used Grana Padano instead)
First up, heat your oven to 220’C and make your Napoletana sauce as per our previous post.
To make the anchovy crumb, place the bread in a small blender with the anchovies and some of the oil from the tin. Blend until you have a variety of different sized pieces; some crouton-sized and others just crumbs. Dry fry until golden brown. Remove from the heat and add chilli flakes to taste and your teaspoon of oregano.
Cook your pasta to al dente. At the same time fry the pancetta until approaching crisp, then dice and throw in the onion to soften. Stir in your freshly-blended Napolitana and heat through. Drain the pasta, loosening the sauce if necessary with some of the cooking liquid, and stir the pasta into the sauce to coat.
Service immediately, sprinkling the anchovy crumb over the top and a generous grating of pecorino.