This recipe is a love letter to one of my favorite restaurants in Brooklyn. The chef does a play on pasta c’anciuova e muddica atturrata, which is Sicilian-style pasta with anchovies and toasted breadcrumbs, but he adds fish sauce for an intense umami boost. I first made this dish during the summer, when I crave pasta al limone, so this recipe became a hybrid of the two. The addition of the artichokes helps brighten it up even more.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 25 min |
| Active: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound your favorite long pasta, such as bucatini
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 flat anchovy fillets packed in olive oil, drained and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup panko
- Zest from 3 lemons
- Two 14-ounce cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry (see Cook’s Note)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably from the anchovy jar or tin
- Kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 flat anchovy fillets packed in olive oil, drained and finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 2 lemons, juiced
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional
Instructions
- For the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the boiling water with salt so it tastes as salty as a broth; it is important that the pasta water it is not too salty because it will help season the sauce. Add the pasta and cook for 2 minutes less than the package directions for al dente pasta.
- For the breadcrumbs: Put the butter and anchovies in a small nonstick pan and cook over medium-high heat, swirling the butter and stirring the anchovies until the butter starts to brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the panko and cook, stirring continuously and tossing, until the breadcrumbs are golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in the lemon zest and set aside.
- For the artichokes: Line a plate with paper towels. Heat a large saute pan or braiser over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and artichokes, cut-side down, and cook until the artichokes have a dark, golden brown crust, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the prepared plate and sprinkle with salt.
- Put the butter in the same pan and cook over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook, stirring frequently, until the anchovies start to turn dark brown and the garlic is very fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and stir to emulsify. Add the pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce coats the pasta and the flavors come together, 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and toss to coat.
- Divide the pasta into bowls and top with the artichokes, parsley if using and breadcrumbs.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 508 |
| Total Fat | 16 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 77 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 11 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 44 mg |
| Sodium | 668 mg |
Reviews
Sooo delicious. I will definitely make this again and again. A little hint is to have everything prepped and ready to use when the recipe calls for it. My husband and I loved the different levels of flavors in this dish. Excellent!!!
Delicious and easily adaptable if you don’t have quite the amount of each ingredient. I had 3/4 of an open jar of artichokes in the fridge to use up and used anchovy paste, which I always keep a tube of in the fridge, instead of whole anchovies.
Made this for supper. So easy and so delicious. My toddler knocked my plate of artichoke hearts onto the floor so I had to go artichoke-less. Can’t wait to make this again with the artichoke hearts. Also loved the toasted bread crumb topping. I could eat that on a flip flop.