Help me cook with anchovies

[nostalgicBadger]

Cartoon Network ran the episode of Futurama the other day where Fry spends 50 million dollars on one can of anchovies, and ever since then, I've been craving anchovies. Trouble is, I feel weird eating them plain, out of the can. I know you can use them in place of salt sometimes -- I do this when I make pasta sauce -- but I feel like the anchovy flavor gets lost, and I'd really like something that embraces the goodness.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated. Thanks!

[LMNO]

1) Salad. A dark green like spinach, a few slices of onion, some feta cheese, slice a tomato, dress with a simple lemon/oil dressing, then lay a few anchovies on top.

2) Pasta. Olive oil, red pepper flake, garlic, and anchovy in a cold pan. Medium heat, stir, and allow the anchovy to melt into the oil. Add a cooked protein, toss with chopped black olives and pasta. Garnish with parsley.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

Just throw in a few semicolons you'll be fine.

[LMNO]

 

[East Coast Hustle]

anchovies out of a can? what kind of heathen are you?

ECH,
If you cannot afford fresh anchovies, you just cannot afford.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I must politely disagree, and assert that fresh anchovies fill a completely different cooking niche from salted and preserved anchovies.

[East Coast Hustle]

anchovies out of a can belong in caesar dressing, and that's about all I can think of.

srsly, those things are fucking gross. I much prefer to use nuoc mam to achieve that particular note of umami.

[Sepia]

In my mind, fresh anchovies are fish whilst when they come in a can or glass, it's a spice.

Pizza Napoletana might be one of my favourite pizzas and whenever I make myself a ceviche salad, I toss some anchovies on it before eating but that might be me being weird, haven't met many people who like the combination of cilantro, lime, chili and anchovies. Toss it into your tomato sauce.

[East Coast Hustle]

in fairness, I should add that without canned anchovies you cannot make a good Bagna Cauda, which is one of my favorite dishes.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I love canned anchovies in much the same way that I love canned olives.

[Triple Zero]

pizza napoletana = pizza with tomatosauce, anchovies, capers and mozarella. sometimes other stuff like black olives. i noticed that americans think this is a weird recipe. shows what they know about italian cuisine, I suppose.

there's good pasta sauce I make with anchovy. It's kind of like LMNO's recipe, except I shred the black olives together with the rest of the stuff, and let it sit (with extra oil) for a while so the flavours combine (esp important if you have cheaper olives). then cook everything, and some tomatoesm, and reduce.

another is anchovy butter. you cut up red chilli peppers, anchovy, garlic, limejuice, butter and perhaps something green (parsley?) into tiny bits, then mix it so you get spiced butter. cause of the garlic it probably tastes best if you make it one day before. it keeps for at least a week or two in the fridge, possibly even longer. it's good on tuna steak (same way you'd let a chunk of herb butter melt on a regular steak), but also just on toast, french bread, ciabatta etc.

[East Coast Hustle]

pizza napoletana = pizza with tomatosauce, anchovies, capers and mozarella. sometimes other stuff like black olives. i noticed that americans think this is a weird recipe. shows what they know about italian cuisine, I suppose.

pizza as it exists today is an american food, so we get to decide what is or isn't weird.

also, there are plenty of americans who love canned anchovies on their pizza. Europe does not have a monopoly on people with bad taste.

[LMNO]

Now by "canned", do you also mean "cured"?

LMNO
-has some brined anchovies packed in oil in a glass jar in the fridge.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

I take half a stick of butter, a whole can of anchovies and the oil, garlic to taste and put that in my food processor and cream the hell out of it.  Salt and pepper to taste and a bit more olive oil if it gets too dry.

This anchovy butter on fish is delicious.  I've used it on grilled shrimp too... Great on seafood then on pasta.

I have used anchovy past for the butter before, you just need to add more olive oil.  It's yummy! 

It keeps ok in the fridge for a day or two, but the surprise is that is freezes really nice.  I do it in a roll in wax paper then slice off pieces as needed.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Now by "canned", do you also mean "cured"?

LMNO
-has some brined anchovies packed in oil in a glass jar in the fridge.

Yes, that is what I mean. If they came in a sealed jar, they are "canned", just as one "cans" jam or fruit in jars. Canned anchovies are typically salted, cured, and packed in oil.