There are some recipes that you make from memory. Recipes that you know so well but yet are somehow different each time you make them. This, for me, is one of those. I learned it years ago from, I think, the first River Café book. It’s a simple recipe but one which serves me well and is tasty, interesting and reliable enough to cook when I need something quick. I love pasta dishes and this is one of my favourite sauces.
Like all my recipes, the quantities vary according to what I fancy and how I feel. Depending on how hungry you are, this sauce will be enough for three people or maybe four as a starter portion.
You are going to need:
A tin of chopped tomatoes
A couple of cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
A tablespoon of finely chopped, fresh rosemary
10 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry
Double cream
A handful or more of grated parmesan
Gently heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and rosemary and anchovies. Mash the anchovies with a fork and, after two or three minutes you will have a rich and deeply aromatic paste.
Tip in the tomatoes and then slowly reduce the sauce to a nice thick sludge.
Sludge is word that is not used enough by gourmands.
Cook your pasta. When it is nearly ready, add your parmesan to the sauce and stir it in well. Add the cream and stir again, tasting for seasoning.
Drain the pasta and add the sauce, coating the pasta well. Serve with more parmesan and good, crusty bread
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