Spaghetti With Garlicky Bread Crumbs and Anchovies Recipe (2024)

This is a great recipe. The only problem I had with it was that I wanted my homemade bread crumbs to have a slight crunch to them. When I added a bit of pasta water to the bowl, the bread crumbs became mushy. Next time, I'll add the water first and put the bread crumbs in last and I think it will be perfect.

The pot in which the pasta was cooked makes a great substitute for the warmed bowl.

Our modified version of this was a big hit. We started with the recipe and added olives and a can of good oil-packed tuna, omitting the fish sauce. Didn't have parsley so we tossed with a cup of chopped baby arugula.

Loved by all at the table. No fish eaters here so I used 24 kalamata olives (minced) instead of anchovies, left out the fish sauce, and put a salt shaker on the table instead of adding salt to the recipe. Would add more garlic and bread crumbs next time as those crunchy bits were the best part.

Great recipe. I've now made it twice. One suggestion. Any recipe (like this one) that uses an inherently salty ingredient (in this case, anchovies) ought to carry some kind of warning on the "salt and pepper" line or in a note at the end. I found this pretty salty and certainly wouldn't want to add any salt. Great video, especially because it emphasizes the importance of the breadcrumbs.

Outstanding! Made a quarter of the recipe (cooking for one) but still used 1 whole yolk and a full T of water. Don't be afraid of the fish sauce and hot sauce -- the flavor is amazing. I only had panko on hand, and the crumbs got soggy. Traditional or homemade crumbs would be better. Left off the lemon wedges, but love another reviewer's idea to add lots of lime juice. Used basil instead of parsley -- arugula would be awesome too. With some steamed broccoli with parmesan, a great meal!!!

Oil-packed tuna instead of anchovies appeals here.

If reincarnation exists, clearly Melissa Clark comes from many lifetimes of Italian heritage no matter how she identifies her lineage today. I had my way with this dish last night, and it was a stunner. Actually mind blowing...it evoked a classic pasta with Bottarga, but with more satisfaction in every bite. I used a full 1/2 cup of the pasta water, and used 2 tsp. of the fish sauce, rather than a full tablespoon. Elusive umami flavors abounded. Kudos and thanks to M.C. for sharing this.

I grew up eating spaghetti with anchovies, red pepper flakes, garlic and parsley. Not sure the extra work here is worth the effort. First attempt was dry without much added flavor. I'll try it again and add more pasta water.

Excellent quick pasta dish. Be sure to use the fish sauce. Lots of lime juice is good. Make crumbs from dark flavorful bread and toast them well.

I have made this several times and it is delicious. I added some halved small tomatoes for color and another time some pancetta as well. I stir in the bread crumbs right before serving. I have served this as part of a buffet so it had cooled to room temp by the time everyone was served and it was still great.

No eggs on hand - substituted two tbs. mayonnaise. Coated the pasta quite well (and eliminated any "raw egg" concerns.)

Loved this pasta dish, great for a Friday in Lent. Followed the recipe, but added little more olive oil and pasta water for a better consistency. Then added the crumbs and parsley,for a good crunch.

I love this recipe as well. I always rinse anchovies (I love them and use them in many dishes). I also really like Amanda Hesser's recipe (http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7479-pasta-with-anchovies-and-bread-c... which adds tomato extract.

I'm inspired here to use an egg yolk to cream up other pasta dishes without cream.

The perfect lenten no-meat dish for Ash Wednesday and Saint Joseph's Feast Day (March 19th), the breadcrumbs are symbolic of Saint Joseph's beard. In my Sicilian family, this dish favorite is usually the star of Saint Joseph's table, with the breadcrumbs symbolizing Saint Joseph's beard.

Deliciously terrific! Made half the pasta (for two) but used almost a full recipe of aromatics. Used a whole egg since I didn’t want to toss one white or save it for other use, and recipe worked just fine. Followed other suggestions by tossing in the crumbs at the end; they stayed crispy and just right. Used homemade dried crumbs and fresh parsley from the winter garden!

I made a double recipe of this and kept one quarter of it and gave the rest to a friend’s family with 4 kids. Due to icy weather I couldn’t get it to them for a couple of days. I kept it refrigerated, with the bread crumbs/herbs separated. She was so surprised that the spaghetti didn’t come out as one clumpy mess. I assume the egg coating was at least partially responsible for that. I had noticed that myself because we ate leftovers the next day and the spaghetti was nice and loose.

Cucina povera at its best! Absolutely delicious! Made as written except to try to prevent bread crumbs from becoming soggy, I crisped them 1st in 2 T of evoo, put them aside while I sauted the garlic, anchovies, etc. Then added the crispy crumbs in w the garlic, etc. for more crisping action. That pasta water is truly essential and the lemon at the end. I threw some zest in too . Divinity in a bowl!

I used panko breadcrumbs because that’s all I had on hand & unfortunately, the final product was a clumpy, wet, mush. Panko responds so well to baking and frying but in this application I must disagree with Melissa—I didn’t find it to be a suitable substitute to homemade or store bought.

I love this recipe but followed directions from another Melissa Clark recipe from her cookbook, Dinner Changing the Game. There she melts the anchovies in butter and adds lemon zest, browns the panko bread crumbs in oil (separately from anchovy butter) and drops the cooked pasta in with the butter and then tops with the bread crumbs. Easy to modify this recipe so that you get the really crunchy crumbs at the end and still have all that amazing anchovy butter with a bit of lemon

Easy, flexible and tasty. I substituted canned mackerel for the anchovies and chinese celery greens for the parsley and it worked well.

Delicious, simple and works well in smaller portions - I did a half-recipe except upped the panko a bit.

A. Pretty good for something fast and easy.

Used 4 eggs, twice as much fish sauce, and liberal pasta water. Came out great.

I wanted to love this but the end product was dry and surprisingly had a very mellow flavor. I added more pasta water than what the recipe called for and at first the egg coated the pasta nicely but as soon as you add the bread crumbs- everything dries up. I didn’t continue to add more pasta water because other reviews mentioned that made the crumbs soggy. Unmemorable over all.

Delicious and easy! No need to chop the anchovies. They dissolve in the oil. Used Kenji’s technique for cooking pasta in a skillet to save time. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly (plus grated parmesan). My kids were suspicious when they saw the fish sauce, but they gobbled it up. All of the flavors come together well.

Very tasty, but a little dry. Next time will be less conservative with the pasta water. Fish sauce is definitely a worthwhile addition!

Definitely need more sauce for this - more yolk and fish sauce - with that correction, this is very delicious and an excellent flavor combination.

So delicious. We skipped the egg sauce part, sautéed some cherry tomatoes in olive oil instead. Tossed that with the pasta, pasta water, parsley and parmesan. Squeeze of lemon and bread crumbs on top. Heavenly.