Anchovies

Tonight I took a walk on the wild side and used something I'd never thought I'd use in a dinner.
Anchovies!

This week I let John do the meal planning, something I never do because I'm afraid we'll have steak every night for dinner. :) He did a good job, I nix 2 of the recipes which included red meat and had him find others (since he has been having a lot of steak lately).

One of the meals was a pasta puttanesca from Pioneer Women, which included the anchovies. My first thought was to just leave them out but I decided why not give them a try! So I did. Here's the recipe: serves 6 so I halved everything

• 8 ounces, weight Bucatini Or Spaghetti
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 whole Red Onion, Sliced
• 1-1/2 cup Grape Tomatoes, Halved
• 3/4 cups Chicken Broth Or White Wine
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 4 whole Anchovy Filets
• 1/2 cup (heaping) Assorted Pitted Olives
• 12 whole Basil Leaves
• 4 ounces, weight Good Parmesan Cheese

1. Cook pasta until al dente.
2. Mash (in this order) garlic, anchovies, and olives using a mortar and pestle, or just chop them finely together. Set aside.
3. Using a fork, crumble the Parmesan cheese.
4. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced red onions and cook until slightly caramelized. Add halved tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in broth or wine and cook for another two minutes, then pour in garlic/anchovy/olive mixture. Stir and continue cooking for several minutes, or until sauce is nice and reduced and wonderful. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Add the crumbled Parmesan and toss to coat pasta in the sauce.
6. Tear basil leaves and sprinkle over the top. Serve right out of the skillet.  

I made sure to cut the anchovies into tiny little pieces to be sure I couldn't decipher them with the other ingredients. And I might have added a little more olives then the recipe called for since they are so good.

It was a really good dish, tons of flavor with a little bit of a kick (since I used some spicy olives). I would recommend giving this a try even if you don't like anchovies. But now I have to figure out what to do with the leftovers ones....