This recipe is very good for those who love anchovies and for those who appreciate Roman pecorino. It’s easy to do, and it’s a very cheap dish, but it does look great if you have dinner with friends. My mother, to our great joy, often prepares this for family dinners.

Spaghetti with anchovies and pecorino cheese

  • Preparation time: 40 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 12 oz or 350 gr spaghetti
  • 10 oz or 275 gr fresh anchovies, deboned and filleted
  • 8 fresh San Marzano tomatoes
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 piece of fresh chili pepper
  • Grated pecorino cheese to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Chopped parsley to taste
  • Salt to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Boil the pasta water in a saucepan.
  3. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into cubes, removing the seeds and the vegetation water.
  4. In a saucepan with the oil, a clove of garlic, and a small piece of chili, cook the tomatoes over high heat for ten minutes. Remove the garlic and the chili pepper and cook for another twenty minutes on a low flame covered with a lid.
  5. Remove the lid and add the anchovies to the sauce and cook over high heat for five minutes.
  6. Salt the boiling water in the saucepan with the little coarse salt, about 6 g per liter of water, and toss the pasta.
  7. Drain the pasta al dente and stir in the pan with the anchovy sauce for a couple of minutes. Serve with grated pecorino and chopped parsley, if desired. Add salt if necessary.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • I always prefer to peel tomatoes before making the sauce. It’s a fixation of mine.However, it is important to remove the seeds and vegetation water to obtain the perfect flavor.
  • When the pasta is cooked with a fish sauce, it is better to salt the cooking water a little and, if necessary, adjust it before serving.
  • To cook the pasta ideally, consider 1 liter or 1 US quart of water for every serving.

  Mamma with Granny Irene and her 4 siblings