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Spaghetti alla chitarra - Maremmana

  • 320 grams of spaghetti alla chitarra (pasta typical of Molisana)
  • 100 grams fleshy salted anchovies
  • 10-12 ripe cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 1 small celery heart
  • 1 young carrot
  • 2 fresh spring onions (only the white part) all well cleaned, washed and cut into pieces
  • 3 peeled garlic cloves
  • 1 spoon of pickled capers
  • 1 bunch of parsley, leaves and stems
  • Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • A pinch of dried oregano
  • A finely chopped mixture of:
    the white of a celery stick
    ½ carrot
    7-8 twigs of parsley
    7-8 twigs of dill
    put this mix in a pan together with 3-4 spoons of olive oil, and keep warm until needed

Without removing the salt or washing them remove the scales from the anchovies and put the fillets on a plate, drench them with 3 spoons of vinegar and 4-5 of oil, abundant black pepper freshly ground, and dried oregano and leave to marinade to 1 hour.
At the end of this hour tip both the anchovies and marinade into the blender, and add first the tomatoes and them on top also the celery, carrot and spring onion. Add another 3-4 spoons of oil and then blend well, in more than one burst, until everything is disintegrated and homogenised into a smooth runny purè. Add then the garlic, the capers and the parsley and again blend well until the purè is smooth and homogenised again to form a good raw sauce. Taste and adjust the pepper, vinegar, oil (or any other ingredient) to your taste (there should be no need to add salt because of the anchovies being salted), blend again until the desired result, then pour into a bowl until needed.

In a large pan boil the pasta in sufficient salted water for 5-6 minutes (until al dente, then drain (conserve some of the boiling cooking water) tip the pasta into the serving dish and add 3-4 spoons of oil mix well with this then sauté in a pan. Add the ready prepared sauce and stir well with a spoon amalgamate together, over a high heat, the pasta and sauce for 3-4 minutes. Having done this take from the heat and arrange on 4 plates, and garnish each with 2 spoons of the ready prepared finely chopped vegetable and herbs in oil, and serve.

THE WINE

MORELLINO DI SCANSANO, young vintage. Dry red, Grape: sangiovese morello, lanaiolo, Malvasia nera. Colour: Rich ruby red. Perfume: winey but elegant. Taste: full, sapid, with fruity veins, soft and persistent.

A Giuseppe Alessi recipe
Translated by Gianna Toni
Picture by Carlo Santoni


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