This is a pantry pasta. That is what you should know. It’s amazing. It’s simple. It’s delicious. That’s all. You can top it it with herbs. You can top it with cheese. You can top it with whatever you want and slurp. This recipe can rotate in the “what can I do that’s easy today”. It’s filling and delicious.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
6 large shallots, thinly sliced (if you’re in a pinch, you can use a quarter of a red or white onion, still taste delicious)
7 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
kosher salt, ground pepper
1 teaspoon of red-pepper flakes
1 can of anchovy fillets (they must be fillets, if not you’ll get the whole fish and it will taste fishy. If you use fillets, you never taste them)
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
10 ounces of pasta (I used spaghetti, bucatini works beautifully)
Flaky sea salt
1 cup of the pasta water
How to:
1. Heat oil in a large Dutch Oven over medium high. Add shallots and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for 20 mins. The shallots will be essentially caramelized and somewhat fried (golden brown edges).
2. Add red-pepper flakes and anchovies (no oil from the can, just the fishies). Stir. Anchovies will melt unto the shallot mixture.
3. Add tomato paste, season with salt and pepper. Cook until it changes color from the “can-y” red to super deep color red. Remove mixture from heat. You will use only half. Our guru, Alison Roman, recommends to use this as a separate pasta moment or to use it in chicken. Both taste delicious.
4. In a separate pan, cook pasta until al dente. I cook it for 2 mins before their suggested cooking time so that the pasta ends up absorbing all of the shallot deliciousness.
5. In your Dutch oven (the one you kept half of the shallot mix), add 1 cup of the pasta water. Cook over medium heat. Add the pasta to the now saucy shallot mix. Scrape the bottom of the pan to get all of that delicious crispy bits from the bottom. (This should take no more than 5 minutes). Serve.
If you can add some parsley to this mix, toasted breadcrumbs, cheese, what have you. It is delicious. Prepare to make another batch of these at least in the next two weeks.
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