Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
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Bigoli in Salsa
Created by
A Venetian Lenten dish of startling depth: fat whole-wheat noodles tangled with onions cooked to silk and anchovies dissolved to nothing. Three ingredients. One hour. Umami before we had the word.
Main Dishes
Italian, Venetian
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
The cooking of Venice is so distant from that of Naples, although they are both Italian cities, that not a single authentic dish from one is to be found on the other's table. Bigoli in salsa belongs to Venice and the Veneto. It is a dish of the lagoon, eaten on lean days when the Church forbade meat: Fridays, Lent, vigils of feast days. The anchovies provided what the faithful could not get from beef or pork.
Three ingredients. Onions, anchovies, olive oil. And time. The onions must cook for nearly an hour until they surrender completely, becoming sweet and jammy and pale. The anchovies dissolve into them until you cannot see where one ends and the other begins. What emerges is a sauce of remarkable depth, savory and sweet and faintly briny, coating thick strands of whole-wheat pasta.
Americans hear 'anchovies' and imagine something aggressive and fishy. They are thinking of the wrong anchovies, poorly handled. Proper salt-packed anchovies, rinsed and filleted, taste of the sea in the best way. When they dissolve into sweet onions, they create umami. We did not have that word when Venetian fishermen's wives first made this dish. They simply knew it tasted right.
Bigoli in salsa emerged from Venice's strict observance of Catholic fasting laws, which forbade meat on nearly 150 days per year. The dish traditionally appeared on Christmas Eve and Good Friday, when even the wealthiest Venetians ate this humble preparation. The pasta itself, bigoli, was made with a hand-cranked bronze press called a bigolaro, which gave the thick strands their rough, sauce-gripping texture.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bigoli pasta
Quantity
1 pound
yellow onions
Quantity
4 large (about 2 pounds)
sliced very thin
salt-packed anchovies
Quantity
12
rinsed and filleted
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/2 cup
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
kosher salt
Quantity
for pasta water
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bigoli pasta | 1 pound |
| yellow onionssliced very thin | 4 large (about 2 pounds) |
| salt-packed anchoviesrinsed and filleted | 12 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/2 cup |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| kosher salt | for pasta water |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy skillet (12-inch)
- •Wooden spoon
- •Large pot for pasta
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the anchovies
If using salt-packed anchovies, rinse them under cold running water and carefully separate each fillet from the bone. Pat dry. Salt-packed anchovies have superior flavor and meatier texture than those swimming in oil. This step takes five minutes and makes all the difference. If you must use oil-packed, drain them well and expect a softer result.
Salt-packed anchovies from Sicily or the Cantabrian coast are what you want. They taste of the sea, not of tin. - 2
Cook the onions slowly
Pour the olive oil into a large, heavy skillet and set it over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat every strand with oil. Now cook them. Slowly. Stir occasionally. The onions should never brown, never caramelize, never take on color. They should soften and sweeten and eventually collapse into something like a pale golden jam. This takes 45 minutes to one hour. There is no shortcut.
If the onions begin to color, reduce the heat and add a tablespoon of water. The water will evaporate and slow the cooking. Patience is the only technique that matters here. - 3
Dissolve the anchovies
When the onions are completely soft and melting, add the anchovy fillets. Press them into the onions with a wooden spoon. Stir constantly over low heat until the anchovies dissolve completely into the onion mass. You should see no distinct pieces of fish, only a unified sauce with depth and savor. This transformation takes about five minutes. Season generously with black pepper. Do not add salt until you taste; the anchovies bring their own.
- 4
Cook the bigoli
Bring abundant salted water to a vigorous boil. Cook the bigoli according to the package instructions, but begin tasting two minutes before the suggested time. The pasta should be tender with a pleasant resistance at the center. Bigoli are thick; they take longer than regular spaghetti. Reserve one cup of the pasta cooking water before draining.
- 5
Marry the pasta and sauce
Add the drained bigoli directly to the skillet with the anchovy and onion sauce. Toss vigorously over medium heat for one full minute. Add splashes of pasta water as needed to help the sauce coat every strand. The starchy water binds everything together. The pasta should glisten, not swim. When you lift a forkful, the sauce should cling.
- 6
Serve immediately
Transfer to warm bowls. Scatter the chopped parsley over each portion and finish with another grinding of black pepper. Serve at once. Once the pasta is sauced, invite your guests to put off talking and start eating. Do not, under any circumstances, offer cheese. This is a seafood pasta. Cheese on seafood pasta is a violation of everything Venice stands for.
Chef Tips
- •Seek out salt-packed anchovies from a good Italian market. Rinse them well, fillet them yourself, and taste the difference. Once you have used them, you will not go back to the tinned fillets in oil.
- •The onion quantity looks excessive. It is not. They cook down to almost nothing. Use every bit of two pounds.
- •Traditional bigoli are made from whole-wheat flour and duck egg, pressed through a bronze die. If you cannot find them, whole-wheat spaghetti is an acceptable substitute, though the texture will be smoother.
- •No cheese. I will say it again: no cheese. Parmigiano on this dish is a crime against Venetian tradition and against your own palate.
Advance Preparation
- •The onion and anchovy sauce can be made several hours ahead and left in the pan at room temperature. Reheat gently while the pasta cooks.
- •Do not refrigerate the sauce overnight. The texture suffers. This is a dish to make and eat the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 420g)
Calories
745 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
25 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
750 mg
Total Carbohydrates
101 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
20 g
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