FROM CNN’S STANLEY TUCCI’S SEARCHING FOR ITALY SERIES

Servings: 4 Prep: 10 min Cook: 25 min Total: 35 min Difficulty: Simple. Just keep your eyes on the pan.
Crispy, spicy and deeply tomato-ey flavor from a whole new technique for cooking Spaghetti.

NOTES

I use a circular patty form to create the plate serving as shown in the photo of this recipe. It makes the presentation as desirable as the food itself.

INGREDIENTS

For the broth

• 2 ½ cups of tomato sauce homemade or store-bought
• 2 – 2 ½ tbsp tomato paste/concentrate
• 2 ½ cups water
• salt
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

For the main All’Assassina

• 320 g spaghetti (12oz) (Finer spaghetti is better.) or Etto Casarecce pasta
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil. (1/2 cup)
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and 4-5 chopped, 1 left whole but rasped minced
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 2 tsp red chili pepper flakes or according to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Grated Parmigiano for serving, mounded on each serving

DIRECTIONS

1. 
Prepare a broth made with water, 2½ cups purée, and plenty of tomato paste and salt, and bring to a boil. According to the academy, the sauce “must be bright red and tasty, but still a broth.”  I always add the sugar as this helps with the acidity of the tomato sauce.   Set this pan with the broth aside. It will be added in Step 3.
2. 
In the pan, add ½ cup oil, the garlic, and chili pepper to taste. Cook the garlic  and chili pepper over a medium heat until golden. Then add the anchovy filets and cook until it looks like a puree. While cooking the anchovies pour in around 2 ½ cup tomato purée.
3. Add the pasta and stir as it can quickly start to stick to the bottom.   Best to use  a wooden spoon swapping the top layer of noodles for those already glossy from having been stuck to the bottom.
4. 
Cook until the pasta is al dente. Total time is around 20 minutes from the start to this point.