Anchovy pasta

I got into cooking about 15 years ago when things like Ready Steady Cook etc were really popular and celebrity chefs were very much the new kids on the block.  I got the bug really quickly and then was hooked for life.  Cooking, even simple meals, is a genuine pleasure for me.  I don't know why or how it happened but the theory I have in my case is this. 

Many blokes of my generation grew up with their mums doing all the cooking while their dads were out at work.  My early married life was much the same.  I worked long hours to try and pay the hefty mortgage while my then wife did all the other stuff.  Consequently, even though my kids were (and still are) amazingly unfussy eaters, I didn't have that 5pm drudge seven days a week.  Most of my male peers who enjoy cooking seem to have had a similar background and came to it in their mid to late 30's.

Despite my addiction starting around the late 90's with the likes of Worral-Thompson, Ainsley Harriot, Paul Rankin et al titillating our early evening taste buds; one of my favourite simple suppers, which I still regularly make, originated from a conversation with a guy I used to work with.  Frank de Juan and I were Sergeants together on a training team based at Hendon.  Frank was part Italian and, like me, was a passionate home cook.  The main difference was that he had learned to cook from an early age and had a wealth of knowledge whereas I was merely an enthusiastic amateur.  Every morning we would have an 8.30am meeting to discuss the day's events.  This usually lasted about half an hour.  The day's business was conducted in about 10 minutes and then we would spend the remainder of the time discussing food over a cup of coffee.  Such high level stuff, eh?  But, when all was said and done, Frank was my Italian food guru.

The first thing he suggested I try was what he called 'Cart driver's pasta'  For the life of me I can't recall what he called it in Italian.  It was just loads of olive oil gently heated in a pan into which was melted a couple of anchovy fillets, a little tomato puree, a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and some pepper.  This was all stirred into some spaghetti and served with a grating of parmesan cheese.  It tasted wonderful!...and as a budget meal was an instant hit!!

I never make it the same way twice these days.  I always melt a few anchovy fillets in the oil as a base and there is always chilli, in some form, and parmesan but I tend to just throw in anything in the fridge to bulk it out.

This evening's 'Cart driver's pasta' was:

In about six tablespoons of olive oil I gently melted down four anchovy fillets.  The Woo and I shared the rest of the fillets off a fork as we love them!  To this I added about a tablespoon of finely diced onion, four finely chopped cloves of garlic, a handful of halved cherry tomatoes, two large finely sliced chestnut mushrooms, a squeeze of tomato puree and a good twist of black pepper.  All the salt needed comes from the anchovies and parmesan!  Last but not least was a quartered scotch bonnet pepper for some (in our opinion) essential heat.  This was cooked through for about the time it took to cook enough linguine for the pair of us and then all mixed together and served with a generous topping of parmesan cheese and, in my case, a bit more black pepper.

It was yummy!  The salty goodness of the anchovies was pepped up by the chilli and the chilli was mellowed by the gentle frying in the oil.  Try it with your version of 'fridge leftovers' and let me know how you get on.