Midnight Pasta With Garlic, Anchovy, Capers and Red Pepper

I've always found it best to finish cooking pasta in its sauce. For this, I'd remove the pasta from the pot after boiling for 6 minutes reserving some of the pasta water, add the pasta to the skillet with about 1/2 cup of the pasta water, bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes or until the pasta water evaporates.

This is a favorite quick pasta dish. You can safely cut out 1 TBSP of oil. I use the small tins of anchovies, and use the whole tin, draining off most of the oil first. Stronger flavour, of course, than what the recipe calls for. The parsley adds a nice touch. Add extra chilli flakes if you like it spicier. I like to start the capers with the garlic, to give them a bit of crunch.

I took others' suggestions and modified this slightly. Doubled anchovies, garlic and capers, sliced garlic instead of chopping, took out pasta 1 minute before it got to al dente, and threw it into the skillet with the other ingredients and some pasta water to cook further. A squeeze of lemon with the parsley added a nice touch. Next time, I'll top with grated parm.

This easy recipe can be made even easier! First - no need to chop or rinse the anchovies, they break apart easily in the hot oil. Garlic - just smash and peel, no need to chop. I don't think rinsing or chopping the capers is necessary, and anyway I like the taste of caper juice! So you can do this whole recipe without any chopping or rinsing in my opinion!

Boiling the pasta with a little bit of kombu (a type of seaweed used in japanese cooking. It is basically a way of adding a little natural MSG) really added something for me-the recipe is basically an umami bomb, and the subtle kombu flavor bridges the gap between the sweeter pasta and everything else. I make this recipe often, and I love it dearly.

I use a tube of anchovy paste, about half an inch or so, melted into the garlic oil. I love this dish for a very quick "fancy" dinner. I love it, my partner hates it, therefore I get to eat a huge bowl of it on rainy days when she's working and I'm home.

Oh, my. this has become my it's 11 pm; 'I've been working at the hospital so long than I am starving but bone tired, and I'm not sure what would cut through the memory of blood and disinfectant' standard. A squueze of lemon brightens it considerably. Be sure to reserve some pasta cooking water to loosen it up if needed. I'll be sure never to be out of the ingredients. For my purposes, pairing with a cold astringent vinho verde is perfect.

Vegetarian version: substitute salty, wrinkled Moroccan black olives for the anchovies. Take out the pits and chop them coursely. About half a cup. This version is also good with 1/2 c frozen peas and a few chunks of tomato thrown in at the last minute--not cooked too much.

If you're eating a proper Italian meal of antipasti, pasta, then main course with contorni an d followed by some dolci or cheese, a meagre 40-50 grams of pasta is fine. But if you've missed meals & this is a late-night well-overdue fix-me-up, as is intended, serve a decent bowl full. Add some grated lemon peel if you feel guilty ;-)

When I make spaghetti with anchovies and capers, I like to blanch some broccoli rappini in the boiling water before the pasta goes in . I then scoop it out and cook the pasta in the same water. Serve the rappini on top of the finished pasta dish. It adds a healthy green with a tiny bit of bitterness that offsets the saltiness.

I don't make pasta that often, but if I do, it's this one. So simple you might not need a recipe, but this combination is perfect if you're a lover of garlic and anchovies. So much flavor from just a few ingredients. Last time I made it I doubled everything but the pasta and got raves.

Make this often. I usually toss the pasta and oil mixture with some fresh spinach before serving. Using a wok makes this last step easy.

Gluten free! I made this recipe with spaghetti squash. I microwaved the squash (after cutting it in half long-ways and putting it on a plate with some water to help cook it), then scraped the squash with a fork into strands which I added to the skillet that had the garlic, anchovies, etc. I used a whole tin of anchovies and half a jar of capers, and probably more olive oil than the recipe called for. Easy and tasty!

I found it much livelier if you don't rinse the anchovies and use some of the oil from the can.

This was tasty. I added some lemon juice right before serving and it added some brightness to the dish. I think I'll try adding either tuna or sardines to it next time. Great, easy go-to dish.