BIGOLI IN SALSA
BIGOLI WITH ANCHOVY SAUCE
This is a recipe from the Jewish tradition that has become a typical Venetian dish. I love the simplicity and richness of this pasta dish. The anchovies and onions are cooked with a little olive oil until they turn into a sort of cream that dresses the bigoli.
SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 30 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 40 MINUTES
600 g (1 lb 5 oz) bigoli* or wholemeal spaghetti
80 g (23/4 oz) anchovy fillets (preferably in brine)
125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) olive oil
1 garlic clove, halved
800 g (1 lb 12 oz) onions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
Briefly rinse the anchovies under water, and if necessary, clean them, remove their backbone and chop. Heat the oil in a saucepan, melt the anchovies in it, then add the garlic and onion. Gently sauté the onion until translucent, add a few tablespoons of water, cover and cook on low heat until the onion has cooked down (allow 40 minutes). Remove the garlic. Cook the pasta until al dente in a large saucepan of boiling salted water. Drain and dress it with the sauce. Serve sprinkled with the parsley.
VARIATIONS
Replace the water in the sauce with white wine or white wine vinegar, add a few chopped salted capers or spices such as cinnamon.
Here is a variation of the recipe that I enjoyed at Bancogiro restaurant in the Rialto: the bigoli are made from buckwheat flour and a cardoon purée is added to the anchovy–onion cream (only 400 g/14 oz of onions are used in this case). Peel 400 g (14 oz) cardoons or globe artichokes, cut into 8 cm (31/4 inch) pieces and boil for 30 minutes in salted water with a tablespoon of flour and the juice of a lemon added so the cardoons don’t discolour. Purée two-thirds of the cardoons and add them to the anchovy–onion sauce. Sauté the remaining cardoons in olive oil and add them to the sauce as well.
* Bigoli, a typical Veneto pasta, is shaped like thick spaghetti, originally made from soft wheat flour, water and salt. Today there are several variations: using wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour, and/or buckwheat flour mixed with white flour, with eggs …