Fast Tomato Sauce With Anchovies Recipe (2024)

Mine's even faster: entire can of anchovies and the oil, dump it all in pan with garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to start.

This is a fabulous recipe. When it first came out, the NYT suggested MORE anchovies! -- for a 12 oz can of tomatoes (or a BIG tomato I put 8 or 10! But 4 or 6 is fine. Plus 4 or 5 cloves garlic, just cut in 1/2s. Brown them, then add anchovies which explode, and when the latter come apart the tomatoes. And some Italian hot pepper.

Great recipe. For a quick meal, I used store-bought cooked fresh tortellini, tossed with sauteed green peppers, onions, and mushrooms, and baby bocconcini - plus this sauce - covered with grated pecorino. Fabulous when baked 25 minutes. The sauce really made it. That, and the sauteed vegetables, can be prepared separately, while tortellini boils. The whole dish is very fast and easy ...the addition of this sauce makes it truly impressive. A keeper for sure.

Arugula was best right on top of the pasta.

If your sauce is too watery, the fault lies in the canned tomatoes you are using. Try San Marzano tomatoes; I buy them whole in a can (Cento brand) and break them up in a bowl with a whisk (others use their hands) before adding to the sautéed anchovies and garlic. Never underestimate the quality of tomatoes you use; it can "make or break" the sauce.

Right on mark! And no onions too. I have for a few years used Thai fish sauce in place of salt in red sauce, soups, stews, salad dressings, etc. I have soaked garlic cloves in fish sauce for seasoning and its amazing. If you simmered it a few hours you would be blown away!

This was so simple, quick and tasty! Normally, my husband won't touch anything with anchovies. Well, he walked in and asked what smelled so delicious SO I hid the anchovy can. I just said it was a new marinara sauce recipe.He polished off two heaping servings, raved about it and is still none the wiser about those little fishes! Thank you!!!!!!

I grew up with this recipe on the back burner during no-meat Fridays. The only difference was that it was made with a three-quarters can of tomato paste (instead of canned tomatoes) loosened with a bit of pasta water, otherwise all else remains the same. Easy, fast and delicious!

I was with you until the bottled marinara sauce. What on earth is the point of that?

Fabulous recipe, so quick and tasty! I used a canned Italian brand of tomatoes, as the sodium content is 15mg as compared to a whopping 200mg. per serving with Hunts! I like the richness that the anchovies added, so the more the merrier. Simple, basic, healthy recipe ... no more pre-made tomato sauce for me!

wanna try this - garlic and anchovies together ? - I'm in heaven !

Great go-to sauce. Add shrimp broth from the shells and top sauce with sautéed shrimp. Delicious.

I love this simple recipe. To improve its nutritional value: I add 1-2 diced onion, grated carrots, minced garlic, some red pepper flakes in EVOO. Followed by anchovies. Then white wine or sake. Then ground turkey for protein (I skip the cheese), then bottled marinara sauce. Will add red wine if I have some on hand.

Added a little lemon juice, thew in some shrimp and little necks, over linguini ... very tasty!

Love this. Used double (maybe triple) the garlic.

A note for all recipes that use anchovies, youre kitchen will smell like fish and some bites will taste like fish. I’m not sure where the myth of tasteless anchovies comes from.

I was looking for a quick recipe and found this. Loved it! The garlic and anchovies stand out. I will add it to the rotation.

If you like anchovies, and I think you might if you’re looking at this recipe, do yourself a favor and top with capers when you serve this dish.

This was super easy and delicious! I added some dried basil and oregano. Gonna be a go-to.

This is a fabulous authentic dish. I was. taught the very same dish from an Italian man from Miilan. The simple ingredients are transformative when put together it is absolutely wonderful. Do not forget fresh parsley. I always add fresh parsley as my friend Daniele taught me. You had the fresh parsley at the very end plenty of it.

We love Mark Bittman and have several of his recipes in rotation. We're also anchovy fans. So I resisted adding onion and more garlic, following the instructions to the letter. I'm glad I tried the sauce his way, but found it a bit bitter and won't make it again. Don't @ me, but I'm tempted to saute onions, some more garlic, and maybe a minced carrot to add to the leftovers.

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. When you start adding broccoli, onion, shrimp etc. to it, you are making something entirely different; you are missing the point.

his is a fabulous recipe. When it first came out, the NYT suggested MORE anchovies! -- for a 12 oz can of tomatoes (or a BIG tomato I put 8 or 10! But 4 or 6 is fine. Plus 4 or 5 cloves garlic, just cut in 1/2s. Brown them, then add anchovies which explode, and when the latter come apart the tomatoes. And some Italian hot pepper.

Made with diluted tomato paste and served over angel hair pasta. This was our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. And the kids loved the cold leftovers on Christmas morning. (No accounting for what kids will like!)

I added fresh basil and fresh oregano from my garden as well as a tbsp. of tomato paste. The herbs enhance the flavor and the tomato paste makes the sauce a bit thicker. This sauce is great and tastes like it simmered for hours.

Add some olives after you cook. Another great addition would be some oregano.

Wow, I don't know what I did wrong. The sauce never became saucy-- it just became more and more dry, and ended up tasting kind of like wet sun-dried tomatoes. I forewent the pasta and just ate the tomatoes on top of arugula, and it was still decent.

I thought I invented this, back when I was a grad student in the 1980s! It won me my wife. Everyone should try this and variations to find a version that suits (I sometimes used the anchovies with capers, which add a little more zing, for example.)

I'm not a fan of tomato sauce, other than for chili or pizza, but this is unusually delicious. I'm adding it to burritos, eggs, bacon, fries, pasta...I need to stock upon anchovies.

Lightly browned pinenuts in olive oil just before serving. Adds a very nice dimension to it.