Daily Italian Recipe · Pasta
Linguine with Anchovies & Breadcrumbs
Linguine with anchovies and golden breadcrumbs is Calabrian pantry cooking at its best: savoury, gently fiery and wonderfully economical. A glossy anchovy sauce coats the pasta, while toasted bread adds the final crunch.
Total time
25 minutes
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Easy
Origin
Calabria
Across Calabria, pasta with anchovies and toasted bread belongs to the tradition of cucina povera: making satisfying food from modest ingredients. Preserved anchovies bring depth, peperoncino adds warmth, and yesterday’s bread becomes a prized finishing touch.
Often described as the poor man’s cheese, toasted breadcrumbs appear throughout southern Italian cooking. This Calabrian-style version keeps the essentials in focus, without tomatoes or grated cheese, and lets the anchovies melt gently into olive oil.
Ingredients
- 360 g Dried linguine
- 360 g, optional replacement Bucatini 'Pasta Cocco', used instead of the linguine, not in additionShop
- 80 g Stale country bread, pulsed into coarse breadcrumbs
- 80 g, optional replacement Stale Focaccia Home Made, using plain pieces without toppings, crumbled instead of the country breadShop
- 50 g Oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
- 50 ml Extra-virgin olive oil: 10 ml for the breadcrumbs and 40 ml for the sauce
- 8 g Garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
- 0.5 g Dried peperoncino flakes
- 3 litres Water for cooking the pasta; reserve 300 ml before draining
- 15 g Fine sea salt for the pasta water
Method
- 1
1. Prepare the pasta water
Bring 3 litres of water to the boil and add 15 g salt. Use either linguine or the listed bucatini alternative, and just one of the bread options. Keep the water less salty than usual because the anchovies will season the sauce.
- 2
2. Toast the breadcrumbs
Heat 10 ml olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the coarse breadcrumbs and stir for 4–6 minutes, until golden and crisp; moist focaccia crumbs may need another 2 minutes. Transfer immediately to a plate so they stop browning.
- 3
3. Melt the anchovies gently
Wipe loose crumbs from the pan. Add the remaining 40 ml olive oil and the crushed garlic. Warm over low heat for 2–3 minutes without browning the garlic. Add the anchovies and peperoncino, then stir for 1–2 minutes, gently pressing the fillets until they break down. Remove the garlic and take the pan off the heat.
- 4
4. Cook the linguine
Cook the pasta until 2 minutes short of the packet’s al dente timing. Before draining, reserve 300 ml of the starchy cooking water.
- 5
5. Finish in the anchovy sauce
Return the anchovy pan to medium-low heat and carefully stir in 100 ml pasta water. Add the drained pasta and toss for 1–2 minutes, adding more reserved water in 30 ml portions as needed. Stop when the pasta is al dente and coated in a glossy sauce, with no pool of oil underneath.
- 6
6. Finish with crunchy crumbs
Take the pan off the heat and divide the pasta among four warm plates. Scatter the toasted breadcrumbs generously over each portion immediately before serving. Taste before adding any further salt, and serve without grated cheese.
Chef's secret
Build the glossy sauce before adding any breadcrumbs. Starchy pasta water brings the anchovy oil together; the crumbs belong on top at the last moment, so they stay crisp rather than absorbing all the sauce.
Did you know?
Mollica means bread crumb or the soft interior of bread. In southern Italian pasta cooking, it often refers to crumbled bread toasted into a savoury topping—not necessarily the very fine, dry breadcrumbs used for coating food.
Common mistakes
- Frying anchovies over high heat: they should soften and dissolve gently, not become dark and bitter.
- Salting the cooking water heavily before accounting for the anchovies.
- Adding the breadcrumbs too early, which makes the topping soggy and the pasta dry.
Storage & reheating
Best eaten immediately. Refrigerate leftover pasta in a sealed container within 2 hours and use within 2 days. Keep unused toasted crumbs separately in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat the pasta in a covered frying pan with 30–45 ml water per portion until steaming hot throughout. Re-crisp the crumbs separately in a dry pan and add after reheating.
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FAQ
Can I use a pasta from the live catalogue?
Yes. Bucatini 'Pasta Cocco' is a suitable southern Italian alternative: replace the linguine gram for gram and follow its packet timing. Linguine itself is not listed in the supplied live catalogue.
Is focaccia the traditional bread for this dish?
Stale country bread is the traditional choice. Plain, unfilled focaccia is a practical alternative for the breadcrumb topping, not a defining Calabrian ingredient. Use pieces without toppings, crumble them and toast until thoroughly crisp.
Can I use salt-packed anchovies?
Yes. Rinse off the preserving salt, remove the backbone and any remaining bones, then pat dry. Weigh 50 g of cleaned fillets and taste their saltiness before deciding whether the finished pasta needs more seasoning.