Bari pride on a plate! (“San Giuannidd” is the Bari dialect form of San Giovannino — little Saint John — and is the local name for this quick tomato-and-anchovy spaghetti.)

Quick info

  • Servings: 2
  • Prep: 10 minutes
  • Cooking: 20 minutes
  • Tools: pasta pot, large frying pan, knife, fork

Ingredients

  • 180g (6.3 oz) spaghetti
  • 200g (7.1 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 heaped teaspoons of capers, desalted
  • 2 anchovy fillets in oil
  • dried chilli to taste
  • fine salt to taste
  • fresh basil, 2 leaves to serve

Method

  1. Get a pot of water on for the pasta.
  2. In a large frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil with 1 garlic clove (cut in half, green core removed) and chilli over low heat, until the garlic is just golden.
  3. Take the pan off the heat. Add the 2 anchovy fillets to the hot — but no longer sizzling — oil and stir until they melt.
  4. Put the pan back over medium-low heat. Halve the cherry tomatoes and lay them cut-side down in the oil. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, until soft.
  5. Once the tomatoes are completely yielding, crush them in the pan with a fork and keep cooking over medium-low heat for 10 minutes to bring the sauce together. Rinse the salt off the capers and add them in.
  6. Check the sauce:
    • if it’s already moist and well-bound, don’t add any liquid
    • if it’s drying out too much, loosen it with half a ladleful of pasta cooking water
  7. Cook the spaghetti and drain it one minute before the end of the cooking time.
  8. Transfer the pasta to the pan and toss for 1–2 minutes, loosening with cooking water if needed.
  9. Serve straight away, piping hot. Finish with 2 basil leaves torn by hand.