Pasta, Butter & Anchovies
A very simple 10-minute pasta dish that does not look much but packs a punch of flavours. The quickness comes especially useful when I have to feed my hangry wife. One tip is to allow the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce, so that starch from the pasta thickens the sauce.
Time
1 min of preparation,
10 mins of cooking.
Ingredients
This recipe was prepared for a dinner of 1 person.
- 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
- 10g of butter
- another 5g of butter at the end
- 2-3 slices of salted anchovies
- 80g of spaghetti
- Bring a pot of water to boil. After the water boils, add a generous pinch of salt and the spaghetti. The spaghetti should almost cook but not entirely. As a guide, let them cook in the pot for 2 minutes less than the cooking time indicated on the package.
- At the same time, in a separate pan, heat olive oil on a low-medium flame. Add 10g butter and anchovies to melt. Use a spatula to gently mix them together. Lower the flame to its lowest setting if you are still waiting for the spaghetti to almost cook.
- When the spaghetti are almost cooked, use a pasta ladle to transfer it from the pot into the pan. Mix the spaghetti with the sauce.
- On a medium-high flame, add a ladle of the “pasta water” from the pot (that the spaghetti were cooking in), to let the spaghetti finish cooking in the sauce.
- Once the spaghetti are al dente, switch off the flame. Add 5g of butter and mix it well with the pasta to add a velvet texture to the dish.
Pantry Notes
Where we bought our ingredients in Singapore:
- Salted anchovies (Rizzoli, Acciughe del Mar Cantabrico – Salate) – Huber’s
There is no need to add salt to the sauce, as the anchovies are already salted.
Tiong Bahru Kitchen 
