martha to the rescue

linguine with garlic & breadcrumbs. taking a cue from martha & there was not much in the pantry/fridge, i opted to make linguine with garlic & breadcrumbs. i didn’t have linguine, but did have angel hair pasta. i didn’t have anchovy fillets but did have anchovy paste. i didn’t have a lemon but did have a lime. i didn’t have anchovy oil, but i did have some of that liquid gold (garlic oil). i did, however, have ciabatta bread to make breadcrumbs. all this sounds pretty bleak, but it wasn't...here’s how i did it:

16 oz angel hair pasta
5 inches of anchovy paste or a tin of anchovies
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons lime or lemon zest
1/4 cup homemade breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons liquid gold (garlic oil) or anchovy oil
8 cloves of garlic confit (recipe prior blog entry) or not

in a large stock pot, boil water for pasta. after it comes to a boil add a handful of salt. boil pasta and reserve 1 cup of pasta water. drain pasta. to the same stock pot add 2 tablespoons of oil. if you have a jar or tin of anchovy fillets, use the oil from that. i didn’t have that, so, i used 2 tablespoons of my liquid gold. add pressed garlic to oil and lightly cook, do not brown. add 6 chopped anchovies if you have ‘em, use anchovy paste if you don’t have fillets. dissolve in the oil, about 30 seconds. add cooked pasta, lemon or lime zest, pasta water & garlic confit cloves if you have ‘em. salt & course ground pepper to taste. serve & top with breadcrumbs.

easy, huh. the zest makes it more flavorful than you’d imagine and the breadcrumb crunch makes the meal. it’s quick, light & flavorful. try it.

how to make breadcrumbs:

in a food processor whiz up two slices of ciabatta, italian loaf or white bread. pulse into a coarse crumb. bake at 300℉ for 10 minutes, stirring half way through the baking time. get fancy & add salt or dried herbs at the end. if you buy breadcrumbs again, my eyes roll at you.