Linguine sugo di olive verdi

So, I have like 900 salted anchovies in my fridge. I need to start using these suckers. The other night during my routine bedtime viewing of Molto Mario reruns, Mr. Batali whipped this up. And it had my name aaaaaaall over it.

If you are an extreme olive-phile such as myself, this will tickle you in all the right places. The anchovy lends a richness, a roundness of flavor that you wouldn't experience if you used olives alone. Without the anchovy, it would be pretty flat, one-dimensional. Like the spaghetti with anchovy carbonara I made the other month, the addition of one little salt-cured anchovy elevates something quite ordinary to complex, interesting, delicious places. Also, don't skip the bread crumbs. I've seen Mario Batali sprinkle them over dozens of fairly austere pasta dishes and always thought, what the hell? Now I get it. The texture makes this a lot of fun to eat, but they're also like concentrated little bombs of the olive oil you cook them in, too. The result is just really delicious and interesting.

Spaghetti with anchovy carbonara with tomato and green bean salad

I've been craving pasta a lot lately. Therefore, I've been making pasta a lot lately. I refuse to demonize food groups - I firmly believe if you keep the portions reasonable and pair with vegetables, pasta can be part of a perfectly healthy meal. Just like gorgeous crusty fresh bread and lovely roasted potatoes. Life is just not worth living without carbohydrates, y'all. 

So! Anchovies. I'd only had the crappy little fillets from a can before, and frankly, wasn't much of a fan. But I noticed anchovies have been popping up everywhere lately, with all the good little foodies extolling their salty virtues like the Second Coming. And then I learned that all anchovies are not created equal; there are oil-packed and there are salt-packed, the salted ones being described as superior in every way. I had to get my hands on some. Unfortunately, my only option was to buy a gigantic can of them for the bargain price of $17.99 at Jimmy's, but when I cracked it open and saw there are about 60 of these suckers in there, hey that's under 30 cents a fish! Some people have investment portfolios, I have investment anchovies. Apparently they can be stored for quite a long time, so I'm not worried about using them all (eventually). I gently jammed the rest of mine in a pickling jar with a little extra kosher salt and stuck it in the fridge. So far, no fridge funk. Good.

Papa, Mama, babies.

Did I mention they were delicious? I swear, people - you will have absolutely no idea this contains anchovies. You'll just think, this tastes really good! Which isn't to say you won't taste them, because you certainly will - I just don't know how to describe the taste. It's umami: the taste of tastiness. There was no fishiness whatsoever after they were cooked, not even a hint, so don't be scared by the smell when you open the can. I admit, I was nervous. But they were great! Next time I shall be bolder and use more than just one little fish per serving.