Weeknight
Spaghetti with anchovy butter, alla Roscioli
The pasta Bobby Flay fell in love with at Roscioli in Rome on Bobby & Giada in Italy — spaghetti glossed in a silky anchovy-butter emulsion, crowned with more anchovy. Three ingredients, one bowl, and I swear I was meant to be born in Rome.
The Roscioli trick: the anchovies never touch direct heat — they melt into the hot pasta water and butter off the stove, so the sauce stays delicate, never fishy. Use the best anchovies you can find; they ARE the dish.
Method
- 01
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil and cook the spaghetti until very al dente — a minute shy of the packet time. Before draining, reserve at least two cups of the cloudy pasta water. That starchy water is the whole magic.
- 02
While the pasta cooks, set the butter and the 8 anchovy fillets in a wide, warm serving bowl (or a pan OFF the heat). The anchovies are so delicate that direct heat breaks them down — Roscioli melts them gently, and so do we.
- 03
Drain the spaghetti and tumble it straight over the butter and anchovies. Add a generous splash of the hot pasta water and toss, toss, toss — the heat of the pasta and the water melts everything into a glossy, creamy emulsion that coats every strand.
- 04
Add more pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce clings like the pasta has been glazed. Fish out the garlic if you used it.
- 05
Shower with parsley, lemon zest and black pepper, and crown each bowl with the extra anchovy fillets. Eat immediately, twirling high, preferably while daydreaming about the Trevi fountain.
Keep cooking
