Spaghetti alla trappitara, is a traditional Abruzzese dish typical of the hilly and piedmont areas, which was anciently offered to farmers who brought olives to lu trappete (the oil mill) while waiting for their turn to press their own olives.
INGREDIENTS
(for 4 servings)
1 lb. spaghetti noodles
5/6 salted anchovies or sardines
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of coarsely chopped dried pepper
parsley and wild fennel to taste
1/2 cup pasta cooking water
1 cup breadcrumbs
PREPARATION
Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente.
In a pan cook breadcrumbs with a tablespoon of olive oil until golden brown.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a pan and golden garlic clove (whole without chopping).
Add anchovies or sardines after having desalted them; you can put them whole because they will melt in the oil with cooking.
Do not add salt otherwise the sauce will be too salty.
Continue to cook for another minute, lower the heat to low and add the chopped sweet pepper; be careful with this step because the pepper burns very easily.
Pour some of the pasta cooking water into the pan and wait until the sauce has thickened. Remove the garlic and add the chopped parsley, wild fennel and the golden breadcrumbs.
Drain and season the spaghetti.
Enjoy!
