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Bigoli with Onion-Anchovy Sauce

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 6 as a main course, 8 or more as a first course

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
2 large onions, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch-thick half-moon shapes (about 6 cups)
3 plump garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste, plus more for the pasta water
2-ounce can anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
1 cup hot stock (Poultry Broth, page 8, or chicken, turkey, or vegetable stock)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 recipe (2 pounds) fresh bigoli, page 105
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Recommended Equipment

A heavy-bottomed skillet or sauté pan, 14-inch diameter or larger
A large pot, 10-quart capacity, to cook the bigoli

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the olive oil and butter in the large skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted, stir in the onions and garlic, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cover the pan. Let the onions cook slowly, stirring now and then, to release their liquid, soften, and shrink. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the onions are concentrated, golden, and edged with brown, add the chopped anchovies, raise the heat, and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, as the anchovies melt in the hot oil.

    Step 2

    Pour in the stock, bring to a bubbling boil, and cook, stirring, to amalgamate the sauce and thicken it slightly. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper, and adjust salt to taste. Remove from the heat; return to the simmer before you add the bigoli.

    Step 3

    Cook the bigoli until nearly al dente in 8 quarts of boiling salted water, as detailed in the preceding recipe. Drop the pasta into the simmering onion-anchovy sauce, and toss together for a minute to finish cooking and coat the bigoli. Turn off the heat, toss in the parsley, and serve immediately.

From Lidia's Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. Copyright (c) 2007 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. Published by Knopf. Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York.
TagsPastaItalianEuropeanOnionRoot VegetableVegetableAnchovyFishSeafoodStarterMainDinnerNut FreeCookbooks
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