Gennaro Contaldo’s pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs recipe

“This traditional dish from Palermo is linked to the migration of many Sicilians to Northern Italy in search of work, and so is often called La Pasta Milanisa (the Milanese pasta),” says chef Gennaro Contaldo.

“They brought with them long-lasting ingredients from home, like preserved salted anchovies, homemade tomato estratto (a rich concentrate) and dried fruit, and would make dishes like this one to remind them of the sunshine of the South, while living in the cool and often foggy darkness of Milan in the winter.”

Gennaro Contaldo’s pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

16 anchovy fillets in salt (approx. 60g in total)
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 small shallots, finely chopped
120g tomato purée
300g bucatini
Sea salt
20g sultanas, soaked in a little lukewarm water then drained
10g pine kernels
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
20g dried breadcrumbs

Method

1. Rinse the anchovy fillets in water to remove the salt, then pat dry and set aside.

2. In a pan, heat two tablespoons olive oil over a medium heat and sweat the garlic and shallots for a couple of minutes until softened. Add the anchovy fillets and continue to cook for a couple of minutes until they have dissolved. Add the tomato purée and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until it begins to thicken slightly.

3. In the meantime, cook the bucatini in a separate pan of boiling salted water until ‘al dente’.

4. In a smaller frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil over a medium heat and, when hot, lightly toast the breadcrumbs, stirring for about a minute. Remove from the heat and set aside.

5. Drain the pasta and add to the anchovy and tomato sauce along with a little of the hot pasta water. Cook over a medium heat, mixing well, for a minute or so.

6. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the sultanas, pine kernels, parsley and toasted breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

Ingredient notes: Salted anchovy fillets can be found in good Italian delis or online. Please use the best tomato purée you can (not tinned or passata) as this, together with the anchovies, will impart a depth of flavour and richness to the dish, which is balanced by the sweetness of the shallots and sultanas. The addition of pine kernels and lightly toasted breadcrumbs adds a nice crunchiness.

Gennaro’s Hidden Italy by Gennaro Contaldo is published in hardback by Pavilion Books, priced £22. Photography by David Loftus. Available now.