Sourdough days recently. I tried to make one from scratch, but, well, far more complicated than I expected. I also got free sourdough from Lidl, but sadly, it should not be called sourdough in my opinion.
Look at this:
Although it has been 3 days since I bought it, there are barely any holes and so uneven, flat and dry, no acidic note. To summarise, nothing like sourdough.
But I didn’t want to throw it away as it was edible. Then I saw a recipe from a cookbook – An A – Z of Pasta, mentioning a Sicilian pasta using breadcrumbs. It’s called Pasta c’anciova e muddìca atturata – Toasted breadcrumbs pasta with anchovies.
The ingredients are simple:
- pasta
- stale bread (couldn’t wait to get rid of it)
- anchovy
- tomato
- parsley
- garlic, onion, chilli – which I always have on hand
A Small Note Before You Cook
Anchovy – As I mentioned in the Spaghetti with Sweet Onion and Anchovy recipe, the anchovy you can get from a supermarket varies. Some are big, some are small. Take a recipe as a guideline, and taste as you cook. The one I’m using here, from John West, is a small size.
Breadcrumbs – To transform a piece of stale bread into appealing breadcrumbs requires only salt and oil. But here I added garlic powder and dried oregano as extra flavour. It was GREAT!
Ingredients
Serves 1
- 80 g linguine
- a piece of stale bread (mine was 30 g), diced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- garlic powder
- dried oregano
- pinch of salt
- ¼ onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 2 small dried chillies
- 5 small anchovy fillets(oil packed)
- 1 ripe tomato, diced
- a small handful of fresh parsley
How to Make Muddica Atturrata Pasta
- First, we prepare the breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil over medium heat in a pan, stir in the diced stale bread with salt, garlic powder and dried oregano. Cook until the breadcrumbs are golden, then set aside.
- In the same pan, heat 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat, and stir in the onions, garlic and chillies. I like to season them with a pinch of salt. Cook until the garlic turned pale golden and the onions started to take on colour. It may take around 8 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the linguine in boiling salted water as per the package instructions.
- Tip in the tomatoes and anchovies. Use a pair of tongs or wooden spoon to press the anchovies into smaller pieces and eventually merge with the tomatoes. Pour in a ladleful of pasta cooking water and bring it to a simmer. Let it cook for 5 minutes or so.
- When the linguine is done, use tongs to lift the pasta and directly into the pan, so the linguine is clinging on with some water. Give it a quick and nice stir to coat with the sauce.
- Garnish with chopped parsley and sprinkle on the toasted breadcrumbs before serving.
More Recipes Using Breadcrumbs
Other Easy and Tasty Pasta Recipes
- Easy Pasta: Caramelised Onions with Salmon
- Easy! Creamy Beetroot Pasta with Mascarpone
- Slow Cook Fresh Tomato and Basil Spaghetti
- 15-min Summer Orange Salsa Linguine
- Why Not? Tuna Linguine with Shrimp Paste
- Thyme to eat! Cauliflower and Mushroom Penne
- Very Rich Tuna Tomato Pasta
- Triple Green Spaghetti (400g Veg Boost)
- 【15 mins】Rocket Prawn Spaghetti in 2 ways
