Cast Iron

Secret Ingredient Pasta

by:
July 29, 2012
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 4 people
Author Notes

I usually make carbonara on the weekend but decided to go in a different direction after spying a can of anchovies and a can of tomatoes in the cupboard. I'm convinced that anchovies are under-utilized in many dishes but I don't add them much because many people (my parents, my roommates, my best friend, my ex) hate them.

Since I was feeding a few friends, including one of my anchovy hating roommates, I had to be very secretive about what was going into the pasta. When it came time for me to pop the little guys into the sauce I made sure Roomie was headed downstairs to put the trash out. The espionage paid off- he liked the pasta so much he went back for two helpings.

I didn't give him the recipe. —Wilterdink

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Secret Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • 1 Yellow Onion, chopped. I love onions so I used a large one.
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 4 or 5 Anchovy Fillets, minced. Mine were packed in oil.
  • 1 Can Roma tomatoes, without basil.
  • 1 teaspoon Sweet Paprika
  • The other bits
  • 2-3 Zucchini, sliced into rounds
  • 1 Box wheat pasta
  • Asiago Cheese, grated
  • 3 Eggs, whisked with a fork
  • Fresh Basil, sliced thinly
Directions
  1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a nonstick pan and add the onion. Stir to coat the onion with the butter. Cook over medium heat for two minutes while you chop up the anchovies.
  2. Add salt and fresh ground pepper.
  3. Mince the anchovies and add to the sauce. Let them cook down with the onion for another 3 or 4 minutes.
  4. Pour the can of Roma tomatoes into the pan. If the tomatoes are whole, crush them with a fork. Turn the heat up a bit.
  5. Add the paprika and stir. If the sauce is bubbling too much, turn down the heat. Let everything cook while you make the rest of the pasta.
  6. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter to another pan. **I used a big cast iron fry pan that's also big enough to boil my pasta. Less clean up for later.
  7. Add the zucchini and cook until there's still a bit of crunch to the veggies. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  8. Fill your pan up with water and set it over high heat to boil.
  9. Cook your pasta (I used penne but any other type will do)
  10. Once the pasta is al dente, scoop out a small bit of the pasta water and add to your tomato sauce. Then drain the pasta.
  11. Add the pasta to your tomato sauce (or vice versa depending on which pan is bigger).
  12. Stir the pasta over low heat and add the eggs. Keep stirring so the eggs meld into the sauce. If the heat is too high you'll get scrambled eggs.
  13. Add the cheese and the basil to the dish. Add salt and pepper if needed.
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