Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Jamie Oliver's book Jamie's Italy.
Pasta con acchiughe e pomodoro
This is a poor people's pasta from Palermo in Sicily. You could use tagliatelle or spaghetti, but if you can find margherita pasta it's great — it looks thicker than spaghetti, and it's frilly down one edge. This sauce has great flavor and is very Sicilian with the raisins and pine nuts.
P.S., I'd like to thank my mate John Hamilton, the incredible art director on this book, who made this dish with me in Sicily. He made it with such care and concentrated so hard staring at it that I thought it might turn to stone! As you can see from the picture, it goes to show that even a Glaswegian geezer can produce a pretty and delicate dish.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Heat a pan, add 6 tablespoons of olive oil, then add your garlic and fry slowly. As it begins to color, add the pine nuts, raisins, and anchovies and continue frying for 2 minutes, until the anchovies have melted. Add the tomato purée and the wine and stir in well. Leave to simmer on a medium heat for 3 minutes. The sauce should be quite thick, like tomato sauce, but if you think it needs thinning down, add a little water. Heat a little olive oil in a separate pan, add the bread crumbs and fry until toasted, crunchy, and golden. Leave to cool on paper towels. Meanwhile, cook your pasta in boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Drain and mix with the sauce. Check the seasoning and divide onto 4 plates, twizzling the pasta with tongs as you go. Serve sprinkled with the bread crumbs.
