Very Easy Anchovy Sauce for Preparing Bigoli in Sauce with Anchovies in Oil

The anchovy sauce is great for dressing a nice plate of spaghetti but also for filling canapés on any occasion, or to use as a base for gourmet sandwiches, avoiding the use of commercial sauces, or to make a nice plate of steamed meat or fish tasty and appetizing. That said, to prepare it, you just need to blend a jar of well-drained anchovies in oil (if necessary, you can add a drizzle of high-quality extra virgin olive oil later) with a slice of bread, 30 grams of pine nuts, and a few leaves of parsley. Blend everything with a mixer and then use it, as mentioned, to fill crostini, or to dress bigoli (thick spaghetti typical of the Venetian tradition).

As you can see, this sauce is very simple but very effective. You don't need to find fresh anchovies to make your first course. Or rather, with fresh anchovies, you would prepare a very different first course, perhaps with a more Sicilian than Venetian flair. The original anchovy sauce for preparing bigoli in anchovy sauce often relies on the use of anchovies in oil. They have the right consistency to become naturally creamy. If you don’t want to use the mixer and add breadcrumbs, you can also use the recipe presented earlier on this page: a very simple recipe where you can see that the anchovies melt on their own just with the heat of the flame if gently stirred with a wooden spoon.

Spaghetti in Anchovy Sauce with Olives and Capers

Spaghetti in anchovy sauce is a quick and delicious first course, easy to prepare and also quite economical. If you want to make your first course even tastier and more appetizing, add a handful of whole olives and capers to your spaghetti. This way, if you don't like sauces for pasta that are too creamy and homogeneous, you will add liveliness and zest to the dish. Alternatively, you can also add the olives and capers to the mixer when preparing your sauce for spaghetti with anchovy sauce. One precaution: if the capers are in salt, desalinate them very carefully. The anchovies are already quite salty, so by adding capers, you will get a rather salty sauce if you haven’t taken care to desalinate them properly. 

Anchovy Paste Tube Recipes

The quick but certainly less romantic alternative to the anchovy sauce made by you is anchovy paste in a tube. Many keep it at home for use in emergencies. It is not an unpleasant product, on the contrary, but you need to know how to dose it. Anchovy paste in a tube is definitely thick and salty. The advice we give you is to dilute it with the cooking water of your bigoli or pasta. If you like, you can also thin it out with a teaspoon of tomato concentrate or tomato puree, which will add creaminess and sweetness to the dish. It is not a high cuisine first course, but it will definitely save dinner in emergency moments! 

With anchovy paste in a tube, you can also prepare very pleasant canapés for an aperitif with friends. To contrast the saltiness of the paste, we recommend spreading a layer of butter on the bread. Its sweetness will pair very well with the saltiness of the anchovy paste. 

How to Use Anchovy Paste 

Anchovy paste lends itself to various uses. Here are some ideas.

• on toasted bread with or without butter
• as a base for gourmet sandwiches instead of mayonnaise or other sauces
• as a seasoning for grilled white meat or steamed fish 
• as a seasoning for bigoli or other traditional pasta formats

Bigoli in Sauce with Breadcrumbs

Another idea is to prepare bigoli in sauce with breadcrumbs. To prepare them, you just need to make the anchovy sauce by blending together anchovies in oil, pine nuts, parsley, and a slice of bread. Use this sauce to dress your bigoli or generally your long pasta. While the pasta cooks, toast some breadcrumbs in a pan. If you like, also toast a few pine nuts set aside earlier. At this point, drain the pasta, toss it in the anchovy sauce, and finish with a sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs. The contrast between creaminess and the toastiness of the bread will be very pleasant!