5 minute anchovy butter pasta sauce
Fast food? This is my version. A 5 minute pasta sauce that uses only a few pantry staples and is so unbelievably delicious you will question how it’s even possible. This is what I make myself whenever I find myself home alone, after my daughter’s gone to sleep and I’m ready to nestle into one of my favourite shows for the evening. To be honest this is also what I make myself when I’ve not done a food shop, when my husband and I can’t work out what to have for dinner, when I find myself in need of a meal asap or just any time a meal is required. It is so, so good - even if it doesn’t look like much!
In Italy this sauce is called burro e alici - which as you might imagine translates simply to butter and anchovies. It’s a humble sauce the relies on starchy pasta water to bring it all together and create a very creamy and sumptious result. The pasta water is pretty key in this dish, transforming our melted butter into a creamy and perfectly emulsified sauce. I love finishing cooking the pasta in the sauce, adding it just before it’s al dente - the texture is second to none.
Why is this the best 5 minute pasta sauce?
It’s deeply savoury and packed with umami - thank you butter and anchovies!
It’s textural - a quick pangrattato adds a lovely crunch to the finished dish
It only requires a handful of ingredients that you likely already have - pasta, butter, anchovies, parsley and breadcrumbs!
Comes together in minutes - and you barely need to chop a thing.
Ingredients you will need for this anchovy butter pasta
Butter - I like to to use a good quality, unsalted butter. One of my favourite brands is Lescure.
Anchovies - Ortiz is my preferred brand of anchovies! Their texture is lovely and they melt into the sauce nicely.
Flat-leaf or continental parsley - you only need a small amount here, finely chopping the parsley stretches it further!
Pasta - spaghetti, bigoli or bucatini would be my choice of pasta for this dish.
Breadcrumbs - regular or panko breadcrumbs work in this recipe - I often have a box of dried breadcrumbs on hand specifically so I can make pangrattato in an absolute pinch!
How to make it
1. Melt butter and anchovies
Gently melt the butter and add the anchovies - they’ll melt away into the sauce!
2. Add the pasta
Finish cooking the pasta in the butter sauce for the last minute or so.
3. Add parsley
I like to finely chop the parsley and add it in right at the end.
4. Top with pangrattato
Fry breadcrumbs in olive oil until golden and use it to top the dish for a crunchy element!
Tips, tricks and substitutions
Pasta water is key - after melting the butter and anchovies, pasta water is the key ingredient to creating a creamy, perfectly emulsified sauce.
Additions - you can easily adapt this recipe by adding things like garlic, lemon zest and juice, capers and more! You can add pretty much anything to the butter sauce before adding the pasta.
Scaling this recipe - this is a really great recipe to halve, quarter or even double! Just calculate the ingredients accordingly to scale.
Don’t have breadcrumbs? - no worries, this recipe is delicious even without them.
That’s about it for this easy 5 minute pasta sauce! I hope you love it as much as I do - and if you do make it, please tag me on Instagram or Pinterest - I love seeing what you’ve made!
5 minute anchovy butter pasta sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients
Pangrattato
1 tbsp olive oil
50g dried breadcrumbs
Anchovy butter pasta sauce
225g pasta - spaghetti, bigoli or bucatini
100g unsalted butter
8-12 anchovy fillets depending on your appetite for the ol’ ‘chovy
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Method
Pangrattato
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the breadcrumbs. Toast until golden, moving the breadcrumbs around the pan frequently to prevent burning.
Once golden, remove from the pan and set aside until ready to use.
Anchovy butter pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and generously season with salt. Add the pasta and cook for 2-3 min less than packet instructions.
Start cooking the sauce just a few minutes before the pasta is ready.
Melt butter and add the anchovies. Use a whisk or back of a spoon to help break these down and meld together with the butter as it browns.
Add a 1/4 cup of pasta water to the anchovy butter and stir to emulsify.
Drop the very al dente pasta directly into the pan and allow it to finish cooking in the sauce until perfectly al dente and the sauce has reduced. If you need to add more pasta water to loosen, go for it!
Stir through parsley, and serve topped with pangrattato.
