Spaghetti alla Cetarese

Cetara is a fishing village on the Gulf of Naples where anchovies have been caught and cured for centuries. This unique pesto is named after it and made with the simplest ingredients found in every Italian pantry. Anchovies, parsley and pine nuts are hand chopped into a savoury sauce for spaghetti.

Serves 4

30g whole anchovies packed in salt (preferably from Cetara)

100g pine nuts

65g capers packed in salt (preferably from Pantelleria), rinsed

2.5g peeled garlic (about 1 clove)

4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (preferably Villa Manodori)

100g flat-leaf parsley leaves

4g fine sea salt

360g spaghetti

800ml fish stock, simmering

Remove the bone from the anchovies and quickly rinse them under cold water. Finely chop the anchovy fillets with the pine nuts and capers to make a pesto, preferably using a knife, not a blender. It is very important that the knife is sharp, to cut the ingredients finely without crushing them. Set the pesto aside, covered.

Grate the garlic and mix with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a large pan. Set aside.

Blanch the parsley leaves in a pan of boiling water for 20 seconds, then drain and place immediately in iced water. Drain again and pat dry with kitchen paper before blending with the remaining oil and the salt to obtain a uniform, velvety texture.

Boil the pasta in 10 litres of salted water until it is half cooked (60–70 per cent of the cooking time on the packet). Meanwhile, heat the garlic and oil mixture, then add a tablespoon of the pesto.

When the spaghetti is half cooked, drain it in a colander, then tip it into the pan containing the garlic and pesto mixture. Finish cooking over a high flame as if making a risotto, by gradually adding the simmering fish stock while stirring and adding more pesto as needed, until the pasta is perfectly cooked.

At the very end, mix well, adding the parsley oil, and then serve.

Spaghetti alla Cetarese