Ingredients
450 g dried spaghetti (see note)
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
16 anchovy fillets
juice of 2 lemons
2 dried red chillies, chopped
For the pangritata;
8 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
a good handful fresh thyme, leaves picked
200g fresh rough breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
First make the pangritata. Put the olive oil into a hot thick-bottomed pan. Add the garlic, thyme and breadcrumbs; they will fry and begin to toast. Stir for a couple of minutes until the breadcrumbs are really crisp and golden. Season with a little salt and freshly ground pepper and drain on kitchen paper.
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente. While it’s cooking, put the oil and garlic in a pan and hear gently. As the garlic begins to soften, put the olives in and keep cooking (apparently if you’re using anchovies, you should see them starting to melt). Squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle the dried chillies. Toss in the drained spaghetti and coat it in the sauce. Taste the pasta and add more lemon juice or seasoning. Serve straight away, sprinkled really generously with the pangritata.
Note: for this kind of recipe you have to use the best pasta you can find, not Home Brand stuff. The best dried spaghetti I’ve found in Brisbane is La Ruvida, from Black Pearl Epicure. It’s a dollar or two more expensive than normal spaghetti but what’s that in terms of the overall cost of food? Nothing. If you can’t be bothered going to Black Pearl but need spaghetti at short notice, Nidi is also OK, and can be found in some supermarkets and at Coco’s.
