Midnight Pasta With Anchovies, Garlic and Tomato Recipe (2024)

For this kind of recipe I have stopped draining the pasta into the sink, a messy business anyway. I simply scoop pasta from the boiling-water pan (turned off, so I can see) into the pan where I’ve built the sauce, using a spider, tongs, whatever. Some water comes along, and that's just fine. And I don’t need to worry about saving some pasta water; it's still right there, to add as I need it. Bonus: when it's time to empty the water, it's no longer a boiling cauldron.

Skip the lemon. Add capers and olives and you got puttanesca.

This is a great quick dish! My Sicilian grandmother made this on occasion. The main difference was that she would also brown some breadcrumbs (from stale Italian bread) in a skillet. The browned breadcrumbs would be sprinkled over the top of a serving as you might sprinkle cheese. It suits this dish admirably. Always linguine with this dish. My grandmother never touched butter or cheese and lived to over 100. My grandfather was a Swiss chef and of course dearly loved cheese!

Studying cooking in Italy taught me many things. The easiest one is: add salt at the end when making most sauces. You end up with a lighter, more interesting plate of food.

onion. A go-to pantry recipe for decades is from Jeff Smith's Frugal Gourmet series. It is similar to this but adds a critical ingredient for both flavor and texture: caramelized onions. The onion, with anchovy and any form of tomato, paste or whatever sauce or purée is on hand, is all you need. A bit of red pepper to finish. The anchovies dissolve when added to the onion. Even the anchovy-haters love this. No one knows what the secret ingredient is unless you tell them.

Instead of cheese you should add toasted bread crums

“Spaghetti a mezzanotte,” also called “spaghettata,” can be any quick spaghetti dish without a sauce. The name comes from the Italian belief that eating a thick tomato sauce just before bed will keep you awake. At any hour, it’s a regular weeknight meal in Italian households. The original version is the now-classic spaghetti with oil and garlic. Variants (“recipes” if you must use the word) are based entirely on whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Lordy, Lordy. This was perfect exactly as proposed.

My favorite pasta as of late is spaghetti with garlic, fish sauce, and chili. For one portion, grate two cloves of garlic into a bowl, add a tbsp or two of fish sauce, some chili flakes (Korean ones work magnificently), and a few tbsp of olive oil. Mix that up and then just put the hot spaghetti on and mix. Fish sauce is essentially the same flavor as anchovy, which is why it works in Italian dishes, too!!

For this kind of recipe I've stopped draining the pasta water into the sink. Using a spider I simply remove pasta from the stock pot and deposit it into the container where I’ve built the sauce. Some water comes along which thins the sauce just fine. And, more water is then available for use as needed.As an alternative, skip the lemon. Add capers and olives and you got puttanesca.

This was so good. I made it exactly as described, no substitutes. I used 8 anchovies. I also used a recent discovery for making pasta...pasta in a skillet. I eschewed the big pot and boiled the spaghetti in a large saucepan, which left me with more than enough rich water to add to the sauce at the end. So good. I will now add it to our rotation of regular meals.

Can never have enough anchovies. A little white wine after the sautéed garlic and fish add a nice layer of flavor.

How can anchovies be "optional" when they are the star and title of the dish? Sure, you can leave them out if you don't like them and the pasta might taste great but it won't be this recipe.

Instead of bread crumbs, add double the cheese!

Yep it's a derivation of puttanesca... No lemon add olives and capers.

Loved! Went heavy on the anchovy and added a bit more lemon. I didn’t have fresh herbs so I added dried parsley and basil to the browning breadcrumbs I put on top. Was just what I wanted with a salad for dinner.

This was pretty good, and even my kids (age 10 and 8) ate it

Good one to make on a pinch. Add the salt. I thought it would be unnecessary because of the anchovies, but a bit of salt is welcome here

Delicious! I accidentally made my pan too hot so the garlic got overcooked- still good. I didn’t have herbs, so I added arugula and 8 anchovies- yum. And I had leftovers, so I added more arugula when heating it up. Will definitely make again.

I’ve truly never tried anchovies and am unfamiliar with their flavor. Would sardines in oil be an adequate substitute? That is what I have on hand.With the note about subbing capers or olives for anchovies, it sounds like they may be more briny than sardines.

Very tasty and easy! Though, as with all other NYT pasta recipes: Always. Double. The Sauce. If you don’t want it all, then … save it for later!

Wow! This is the perfect pantry / post coital recipe. I’m going to stock the ingredients for late night sustenance whether w a lover or last min supper for one. Love this never thought to add lemon to this kind of recipe but it’s a game changer. This is hot girl food whether shared or solo! PS I didn’t use tomato paste I wanted more of a white sauce. And I tested this on one tonight… 2 oz spaghetti like 6 anchovies no tomato paste big squeeze of lemon.

This was delicious!! I made it following the recipe exactly and won’t change a thing next time. I didn’t tell my husband about the anchovies until he was half way through his bowl since he hates “fishy” anything. He was amazed! The simple flavors came together beautifully. This will definitely be in my rotation for pasta nights.

I’ve made this dish as is (tasty and deliciously simple) and with arugula as my tender green and loved the additional layer of peppery bite. If you haven’t yet tried MC’s Pasta with Tuna, Capers and Scallions you should, and a combination of these recipes with a little white wine is outstanding!

Used this an inspiration. Caramelized onion, added 1/2 of an heirloom tomato to the mix, and used olives and capers in place of anchovy. Also a little Calabrian chili and separately sautéed sausage link. Served with oven roasted broccoli. Lots o’ finely grated grana padano.

Love this doctored up Aglio e olio. I use a 8 inch fry pan ,break thin spaghetti in half, boil for 8+ min and poor in bowel I will be eating from. use same pan for upgraded Aglio e olio, reintroduce pasta with appropriate pasta water and you end up with a great dish for 1 or 2 people with only a bowel and pan to clean. Perfect for a single person. Thanks

Used the whole tin of anchovies, zero regrets, just factor in how much salt the extra anchovies add. Also added chopped green olives. Clearly I'm not watching my sodium intake but as a treat, it was a great pasta dish!

Swapped anchovies with a half can of sardines.Added oven roasted cherry tomatoes (some slightly chard), a tablespoon of chopped capers. It makes it more fishy and the heat and lemon makes it very tasty.

Made this just as per instructions but with half amount of pasta as everyone here said it was a bit bland. It was still bland. Not too bad, but won’t be making it again. Too boring!

Can you sub anchovy paste for the fillets? If so, how much paste would you suggest to substitute? Thanks so much!