Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Anchovies

Pasta with cherry tomatoes and anchovies is a classic, appetizing and simple dish to prepare. Here are the ingredients and the procedure to make it.

Ingredients

• 320 g of pasta (linguine or spaghetti are perfect)
• 200 g of cherry tomatoes, preferably ripe and sweet
• 80 g of anchovies in oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Fresh or flaked hot pepper, to taste
• Fresh parsley, chopped, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Preparation

1. Start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat a generous pour of extra virgin olive oil and add the peeled and slightly crushed garlic cloves (to flavor the oil without finding bits of garlic in the final dish) and the chopped hot pepper if you like it spicy.
3. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the anchovies cut into small pieces. Let them melt in the oil over low heat.
4. In the meantime, cut the cherry tomatoes in half and, once the anchovies have turned into a sort of cream, add them to the pan.
5. Cook for a few minutes until the cherry tomatoes start to slightly break down. You can gently press them with the spatula to help them release their juice.
6. At this point, cook the pasta until al dente following the instructions on the package.
7. Drain the pasta keeping some of the cooking water and transfer it to the pan with the cherry tomato and anchovy sauce. If necessary, add some of the cooking water to make the sauce creamier.
8. Stir the pasta with the sauce over high heat for a minute, so that the ingredients are well combined.
9. Turn off the heat, add the chopped parsley and a drizzle of raw oil. Stir one last time and serve immediately.

Curiosity

Pasta with cherry tomatoes and anchovies is a very popular dish in the coastal regions of Italy, especially in the South where the embrace between the flavor of the sea provided by the anchovies and the freshness of the garden offered by the cherry tomatoes creates a perfect balance on the palate. Moreover, it is a dish that manages to bring a bit of summer to the plate at any time of the year.