Pasta alla Paolina
La Dispensa: The Sicilian-American Pantry Essentials
If you want to understand the genius of Sicilian grandma cooking, look at what she can coax out of an empty pantry. Pasta alla Paolina was born in a 16th-century Palermitan monastery where friars took a vow of perpetual Lent—meaning no meat, no dairy, ever. Faced with severe restrictions, they leaned on pure ingenuity: melting anchovies into hot oil for a massive umami hit, frying stale breadcrumbs as a crunchy stand-in for expensive cheese, and spiking the whole thing with cinnamon and cloves inherited from Arab conquerors. Over the years, assimilated diaspora recipes stripped those sweet spices out to appease the American palate. Don't do that. It takes exactly fifteen minutes to make, uses ingredients you already have, and delivers a deeply comforting, complex bowl of pasta that smells exactly like a true Sicilian kitchen.
Ingredients
- unseasoned breadcrumbs1/2 cup
- extra-virgin olive oil4 tbsp
- dried bucatini1 lb
- garlic2 large cloves
- oil-packed anchovy fillets6
- double-concentrated tomato paste2 tbsp
- crushed tomatoes14 oz
- ground cinnamon1/2 tsp
- ground cloves1/4 tsp
- kosher salt1 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- fresh basil leaves1 small handful
Method
- 01
Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil.
Set a large skillet over medium-low heat. Stir the breadcrumbs and one tablespoon of oil constantly for 3 to 4 minutes until they smell nutty and take on the color of wet sand, then immediately transfer to a small bowl so they don't burn in the residual heat.
- 02
Build the umami base by sizzling the garlic and melting the anchovies.
Wipe the skillet clean, add the remaining three tablespoons of olive oil, and gently fry the smashed garlic until golden and fragrant. Remove and discard the garlic, drop in the anchovies, and use the back of a wooden spoon to aggressively smash and smear them until they completely dissolve into a savory paste.
- 03
Simmer the tomatoes and spices.
Stir the tomato paste into the anchovy oil for 30 seconds to deepen its flavor, then pour in the crushed tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and black pepper. Cover and let it simmer on low for about 10 minutes—exactly the time you need to boil the pasta.
- 04
Cook the pasta two minutes shy of al dente and reserve some of the starchy water.
Drop your bucatini into a large pot of heavily salted, boiling water. Right before draining, scoop out about a half cup of the opaque cooking water.
- 05
Emulsify the sauce and pasta in the skillet.
Transfer the drained pasta directly into the simmering tomato sauce over medium heat, adding a splash of the reserved pasta water and the torn basil. Toss vigorously for a minute or two until the starches and fats violently collide, creating a creamy sauce that clings to every single strand.
- 06
Serve immediately with a generous shower of toasted breadcrumbs.
Plate the pasta while it's piping hot. Do not add cheese; the crunch and toasted flavor of the muddica atturrata is the only finish this dish needs.
Notes
The traditional cauliflower variation.
If you want to bulk this up like a true Palermitan, boil a small head of cauliflower (cut into florets) in the pasta water for 10 minutes. Remove it with a slotted spoon, mash it into the anchovy-garlic base before adding the tomatoes, and boil your pasta in that same nutrient-rich, green-tinted cauliflower water.
Don't skip or skimp on the spices.
Cinnamon and cloves might sound strange for a savory tomato sauce, but their warm, almost sweet-and-sour depth interacting with the briny anchovy is the undisputed soul of this dish.