Fresh pasta like Fettuccine, descendant of ancient laganica, is a fresh egg pasta favorite of modern Romans. As a dressing we can use butter and anchovies, really easy recipe with this pairing that becomes sumptuous when the ingredients are of high quality.

Fettuccine butter and anchovies

  • Preparation time: 30X minutes
  • For 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the pasta:
  • 4 eggs
  • 300 gr of all-purpose flour
  • 100 gr of semolina flour
  • For the dressing:
  • 8 fillets of salted anchovies
  • 120 gr of centrifuge butter
  • 4 red pepper taralli (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  1. Instructions
  2. Leave the butter at room temperature for a couple of hours.
  3. Make the dough. On the pastry board pour the flours, make a hole in the center and pour in the eggs. Knead until the mixture is smooth. Cover with cellophane and let rest at room temperature for one hour.
    Roll the dough with a sheeter to a thickness of two millimeters. Flour the mixture well and cut it into lozenges about 5 millimeters thick.
  4. Prepare the anchovies. Remove the abdominal bones and tails. Run them under running water for a few minutes to desalt them. Chop them with a knife very finely.
  5. Meanwhile, whisk the butter in a bowl with an electric whisk until it has incorporated a lot of air and become foamy. Season with pepper and the chopped anchovies.
  6. Crumble the taralli in the mixer.
  7. In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta for around three minutes. Drain the fettuccine , reserve a cup of water, and place in the bowl with the anchovy butter and mix well, adding a little cooking water if necessary.
    Serve with a sprinkle of chopped tarallo.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The choice of transalpine butter may seem risky for a family cookbook. The reality, I am immensely sorry to admit, is that French or Bavarian butter is of a generally superior quality. It rarely tastes cheesy and is savorier. If you want you can try an Italian centrifuge butter: there are some good ones on the market lately, too.
  • For those who like it fresh, you can add a little grated lemon zest at the end but only if you don’t put in the chili taralli. I like the taralli because they give crunchiness, chewiness and also a bit of spiciness.
  •  To cook the pasta ideally, you need to consider 1 liter of water for every 100 g of pasta.