anchovy + scallions + orange {pasta}

“What is that seasoning? It tastes so good! Wait a minute, don’t tell me…..”

I get that a lot. Not because I’ve dug into a jar of some exotic spice a friend has brought back from the middle east or India. No. It comes at me when I’ve done nothing more than grate an orange over a finished dish.

Most people are so used to using citrus in desserts, that they don’t ever consider using them in savory dishes as well. I guess the pairing is so odd, that most people don’t even recognize the taste.  While a squeeze of lemon juice is pretty common for brightening up any dish, using copious amounts of orange and lemon zest, or even juice from mandarins, clementine and grapefruits usually just isn’t something you think of adding to stew, pasta or pizza.

Oranges and tomatoes are one of my favorite pairings, and I’ve used them to make pasta sauce as well as bruschetta. But even when tomatoes are no where in sight, I still love the zing of orange zest over pasta.

Last week for lunch, I was about to head down the lazy route: agio, olio pepperoncino. Nothing wrong with that. But while I was digging around in the refrigerator I realized I had a bunch of scallions that had to get used or get lost.

Anchovies and olive oil from Sicily did the rest, and the final touch which made it sing was tons of orange zest. (Also from Sicily, by the way.)

If you’re going to use orange zest, try to get ahold of organic oranges that haven’t been treated.  And since this is such a simple pasta, the quality of the pasta itself is important. Although there is no ‘sauce’ the cooking water from the pasta provides most of the moisture, so you want a pasta that gives up a lot of it’s starch which will help bind it all together.

For this recipe I used anchovies in olive oil, and also used a bit of the olive oil from the jar as well. And here’s an extra lazy girl tip: save that jar of anchovy oil and just add some lemon juice, give it a shake, and you have a great dressing for a bitter winter green salad. 

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anchovies + scallions + orange {pasta}

Prep 10 mins

Cook 20 mins

Total 30 mins

Author Elizabeth

Yield 2

Ingredients

• 250 grams pasta (I used Rustichella Primo Grano)
• 8 anchovy fillets (mine were part of a Christmas basket I got from Natura in Tasca)
• 6 scallions
• Zest from 1 orange
• Juice from half orange (about 1/3 cup)
• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus more

Instructions

1. Slice the scallions into 1/4 inch slices, both the greens and the white part.
2. Using a potato peeler, peel off the zest from the orange, being careful not to get any of the white pith. Roughly chop the zest using a knife.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta.
4. Pour the olive oil into a pan big enough to hold the pasta. Heat to medium and add the anchovies. Stir over heat for just a few minutes, until the anchovies begin to break up. Add the scallions, stir for a minute more and turn off the heat.
5. When pasta is done al dente, drain, reserving a cup of the pasta cooking water.
6. Add pasta to the pan with the scallions, raise heat and stir to mix, adding the reserved water and the orange juice, a bit at a time. After a minute or so, turn off heat, and sprinkle in most of the zest. Turn off the heat and drizzle with your best olive oil.
7. You can reserve a bit of zest for scattering on top of each plate, since it’s so pretty.
8. Serve with a bit of ground pepper. I like a very mild pepper, and use this one, which also happens to be a nice orange color. See the theme going?

Lately I’ve been cooking with this wonderful olive oil from Sicily, which I received a sample of from Gustiamo.