Spaghetti à la SOPHIA LOREN

„Everything you see I owe to Spaghetti“

Sophia Loren



A few days ago by chance I came across an old cookbook „in cucina con amore“ by Sophia Loren published in 1971. A wonderful cookbook full of great recipes and written with a lot of esprit. Full of anecdotes, funny stories regarding Italy, Hollywood etc. Most importantly it is quite clear from the beginning that Sopia Loren can really (!) cook, no ghostwriter.

My first recipe from this book is "Spaghetti al burro d’acciuga“ or "Spaghetti with anchovy butter“. One of the best pasta recipes I have ever made, thanks to Sophia Loren. Please use top products like anchovies from Ortiz, Spaghetti from Rummo (cheap and good), good canned tomatoes like Bianco DiNapoli and good butter. And also pre-warm the pasta plates.


Ingredients

350g Spaghetti

5 anchovies

70g butter

2-3 cloves garlic

300-400g canned peeled tomatoes/or fresh ones

1/2 bunch flat parsley

olive oil

Pasta cooking water



Preparation

  1. Combine anchovies with warm butter by mortar/food processor or by hand with a fork. Make a ball and put in clingfilm and into the fridge for 1-2h. Put the pasta plates into the oven for pre-warming.

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  1. Cook the peeled garlic cloves in a good amount of olive oil until brown. Remove the garlic or let in the pot. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10min.


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  2. Cook the pasta. Shortly before the pasta is ready, add the anchovy butter to a big bowl.


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  3. Add 1-2 ladle of pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce. Also add chopped parsley to the tomato sauce at the end.


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  4. Put cooked pasta into the bowl with the butter and combine until butter is melted. Be fast!


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  5. Then add tomato sauce


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  6. Combine everything

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8. And NO cheese. ENJOY


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2 Likes

If I just hadn’t ordered pizza, I’d be making this right now! [cheers.gif]

This sounds delicious! I would imagine you could do the “mantecatura” in one skillet without first mixing the tomato sauce with pasta water?

Anchovies are one of the most underrated ingredients in the US. People on this side of the pond should read more Kenji Lopez-Alt who puts them everywhere.

Do what you like. I made it like Sophia ordered me to do. haha

That’s true. Don’t forget that the italian housewives used anchovies already several thousands years ago for their cooking, an ancient fish sauce „Garum“ so to say. For example very helpful at the beginning for all braising dishes etc.

P.S. I have to say that the anchovies in oil (glassware) from Ortiz plays in another league. Before I used good ones from south-italy, but no comparison to Ortiz. Ortiz anchovies are such sublime and less salty, also more meaty.

I assume that Nola also has excellent anchovies in her portfolio.

YUM

There’s a restaurant in Napa called Bottega, run by a famous chef named Michael Chiarello, which features Spaghetti a la Sophia Loren on its menu. Intriguingly they use tomato water not passata so you visually don’t see that much tomato in the dish, but it’s very tomato-centric with an intensely bright, fresh tomato flavor. There very well may be anchovy butter in there but it plays a supporting role to the tomatoes. Anyway I order it literally every time I go, so thank you for posting this - I’ll have to try it myself sometime

Here’s the menu:

When used correctly, you won’t be able to taste the anchovies much, at least not that it tastes fishy. The gift anchovies give to almost any dish, are glutamic and inosinic acids. They are the compounds that make something taste savory, the “umami” flavor. For example, I put anchovies on almost everything. Beef stews, bolognese ragu (I know, not very traditional but who cares) and so on. They make everything just taste a little bit better, and you would have no clue what it is.

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You tried Colatura di Alici? I’d use more of that stuff if it was a bit cheaper, but fish sauce works in a pinch. Use fish sauce in pretty much everything, and it’s a very close cousin of previously mentioned Garum. Colatura is different, it’s where the liquid of the salted fish is allowed to drain at bottom of barrel, whereas garum/fish sauce is basically fish allowed to ferment and get all gooey and ground up. Colatura is much more subtle in its taste. I highly recommend it in a very simple pasta - delicious:

Don’t worry, it is very traditional.

On my shopping list since a few years, but not easy to get in Germany. Especially not the original version, as there are also some “tourist” version out there.

BTW, a few weeks ago I added 1 anchovy to my pizza sauce. Fascinating how much depth one little anchovy gives to a sauce. Highly recommended.

It was fascinating to hear/read that they sold Garum stored in amphora on the streets of Pompeii.

P.S.

you can bring this recipe even to a higher level if you use anchovies in salt. But then you have to wash them with water before using it.

Martin, I’m also a big fan of the Ortiz anchovies, and their tuna is also my favorite. A few years back I found jars of the anchovies on Amazon for like $4 or something. I thought maybe a mistake, since they tend to be more like $10+ usually, so I bought a jar and it was great. So then I bought like 15 jars, thinking they’d last me forever. They did not and are long since gone. My only complaint about the jars, is that the vertically packed anchovies can tend to mangle as you pull them out sometimes, even with the little fork they give you. So now I typically buy the small cans, but also still Ortiz. I’ve tried a number of other popular brands but Ortiz remains my favorite (same with the tuna), and I’m particularly fond of both the clean anchovy taste and the firm, meaty texture.

Michael,

everything gets more expensive these days, unfortunately. I paid 10 Euro for the little Ortiz glass version. Worth every cent.

Fair to say according to experts the version “anchovies in salt” is even better.

[quote=“Martin Zwick” post_id=3495650

Michael,

everything gets more expensive these days, unfortunately. I paid 10 Euro for the little Ortiz glass version. Worth every cent.

Fair to say according to experts the version “anchovies in salt” is even better.
[/quote]

Martin, I have tried the anchovies packed in salt a couple of times and I was not a fan. The amount of work involved in rinsing them was just not worth it. Finished product didn’t seem as firm or clean tasting as the Ortiz. It could be that other brands are better than the ones I tried though. I don’t know if Ortiz makes them. If so I’d be willing to try theirs.

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I’m on my own tonight, so will be making this.

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Looking for these I see two different versions, the normal “Ortiz Anchovies in Olive Oil” and “Ortiz Old Style Anchovies Anchoa Antigua”, is this what you’re referring to as “anchovies in salt” ?

Description from Ortiz Old Style Anchovies Anchoa Antigua in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 3.
“Ortiz’s Traditional-style anchovies are produced using a craft process that differs from the method Ortiz uses to produce our anchovies in olive oil. Ortiz cleans the salt off them with great care and fillets them one by one with a knife, without removing the skin. This gives them a silver hue and conserves all the original, intense flavor of the salting process. They are then marinated in extra virgin olive oil and a touch of parsley. They make an ideal appetizer due to their authentic flavor and original, attractive presentation.”

I couldn’t find the glass jar versions locally (only tin canned versions at World Market), so trying this recipe with those tonight. Do the glass jar versions differ much from the tin canned ones in terms of flavor/texture? Anyone has experience with the Antiguas?

The tin canned version from Ortiz is great too. Don’t worry.

I made this last night (no pics unfortunately). I did adjust the technique slightly, but the end result would be identical (I emulsified the butter and pasta water while tossing it with the spaghetti, then combined it all in the pan I cooked the tomatoes). It’s a good simple dish, good depth of flavor, personally I like mine a bit more “puttanesca-esque” (just made up a new word there) so more pungent than this, with maybe added olives and capers, but my wife who “hates” anchovies (didn’t tell her I used them obviously like I never do) loved this.

Good stuff! Will make again for sure.

1 Like

I am a big fan of Puttanesca and also love Pizza with black olives and anchovies, but the “puttanesca-esque” is in the foreground. I loved the fishy creaminess of the recipe by Sophia Loren and rather puttanesca-esque punch in the background (!). This recipe is different, it reminded me on the famous winter-tomato-sauce by Marcella Hazan based on canned tomatoes, onion and a lot of butter. So simple and so delicious. And here again, it’s the butter.