Jono & Jules do food & wine

This pasta dish has really strong and delicious flavours. We don’t recommend trying it on your non-anchovy loving friends.

Ditaline rigati con acciughe e pomodori secchi – to serve 4

• 6 anchovies in oil
• 120g dried breadcrumbs*
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic oil**
• 12 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
• 120 ml white wine
• a pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 400g ditalini rigate 
• 1 tbsp parsley and garlic ***
• 60g pecorino cheese, grated

Drain the anchovies, and cut 3 of the fillets into long strips.

Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry pan over a medium heat, until they are a good dark golden brown but be careful that they don’t burn.

Heat the olive oil and garlic oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the 3 whole anchovy fillets and cook very gently, stirring, for a minute, to break them up and melt them a bit. Stir in the tomatoes, then add the wine and bubble up so it evaporates. Add the chilli flakes.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add plenty of salt, and put in the pasta. Cook for about a minute less than the advice on the pack, so that it is al dente. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water, add to the anchovy and tomato sauce and toss together, adding a spoon of the cooking water if needed to loosen. Add the parsley and garlic and toss again. Serve sprinkled with the toasted breadcrumbs, the cheese, and the strips of anchovy.

* You need to use good quality bread to make good breadcrumbs (so stay clear of the sliced white stuff). Cut the crusts off your stale bread, cut it into slices, put it on a baking tray and bake at 80ºC for an hour. When the bread has dried out, grate it (or use a food processor if you prefer) to make breadcrumbs. Keep in a sealed jar until you need them.

** To make garlic oil: mix 2 finely chopped garlic cloves with 50ml olive oil and leave for a day in the fridge before using. It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

*** Use 1 garlic clove and about 4 handfuls of flat-leaf parsley. Crush the garlic with the flat of a kitchen knife to make a paste. Put the parsley on top and chop it finely.

Wine Suggestion: Try a textural southern white like Greco di Tufo or a Grillo from Sicily.

(Original recipe from Georgio Locatelli’s Made in Sicily, Fourth Estate, 2011.)