- 1 pound bucatini pasta (or spaghetti)
- 6 – 8 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 8 – 10 anchovy fillets (I use Talatta brand in olive oil)
- 1 – 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
- Half an onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I didn’t have leftover bread so I used Panko)
- Juice of 1 large Meyer lemon or two regular lemons
- Zest of three lemons
- Olive Oil
- 2 – 3 cups arugula (or your choice leafy greens)
- Boil your pasta according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, heat about 1/3 cup of olive oil in a pan large enough to accommodate the pasta over medium heat. Fry the lemon zest briefly. Depending on how hot your oil is, this should take less than 30 seconds. As soon as some of the pieces start to color, use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried zest to a plate. Once the zest has been removed from the pan, add the bread crumbs. The bread crumbs will absorb most of the oil and will take a minute or two to start turning a nice light brown. Don’t let them burn. Stir occasionally to allow even browning then remove from pan and set aside.
- Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and add more olive oil. I would add about 1/3 – 1/4 cup to the pan as this will be your sauce. Heat to medium-high and add the anchovy fillets and crushed red pepper. Within a minute or two, the anchovy fillets will dissolve so add the garlic slices and the onion at that time. Don’t let the garlic brown. As soon as the slices become fragrant add half of the lemon juice to slow down the cooking process. Taste for seasonings. You may think that the sauce is too salty due to the anchovies but remember that you’ll be tossing it in a pound of pasta and lots of greens. The flavors will balance out once the dish is finished. Turn off the heat if your pasta isn’t ready.
- When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Toss to coat and add the greens. Toss again. You can also toss some of the bread crumbs into the pasta. You can add the rest of the lemon juice at this point and even more olive oil if the sauce seems too dry for you. Serve a portion on a plate and garnish with Parmigiano Reggianno and the fried lemon zest.
Priscilla- She's Cookin' says
Beautiful dish – so evocative of the Mediterranean. You’re so lucky to still have Meyer lemons! I love the photo with the basket of lemons in dappled sunlight.
lemonsandanchovies says
Thanks, Priscilla. I’m lucky with our tree–it produces good fruit pretty much year round. I guess I’m spoiled! That basket was just a fraction of the harvest! 🙂
Sukaina says
Frying lemon zest is highly unusual- never tried that before. I like the idea of combining the salad with yoru main course- will have to try! Lucky you that you have a lemon tree in your garden, your very own little piece of sunshine.
lemonsandanchovies says
Sukaina, I don’t know why I was inspired to do it and maybe there’s no huge gain for doing so but I did like the crunch–it worked well as a garnish to the pasta. 🙂
Yes, indeed, the lemon tree is a welcome piece of sunshine in my yard. 🙂
Lisa { AuthenticSuburbanGourmet } says
Happy Friday! This dish looks and sounds super delish. I love the lemon and arugula. I would even put the anchovie in it. 🙂 I might just have to make this over the weekend. Enjoy your weekend!!!
Nadia says
This post is so sunny, I love your photos! This is a beautiful pasta dish-simple, bright, and delish. I wish I had citrus trees in my backyard, lucky you! 😀
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Nadia! Thanks so much–it was an easy dish to put together and saved me the extra step of preparing the salad. 🙂
Yes, I do feel lucky to have the lemon tree. This is why I try my best to keep the deer away from it. They love it, too, LOL! 🙂
AMInyc says
This looks absolutely fantastic! Can’t wait to try it. Never thought to fry the zest, but how terrific!
Adora's Box says
Wow, you have a kalamansi tree! Impressive. This pasta dish must be bursting with so much flavour. Beautiful photographs.
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Adora, my kalamansi tree is young and it hasn’t quite taken off yet but when it does I’ll be so happy! 🙂
Belinda @zomppa says
This is definitely my kind of dish. Especially the lemons and anchovies – definitely going to make this next week. Love your lemon trees!
lemonsandanchovies says
Thanks, Belinda! 🙂
Kate@Diethood says
mmmmm I loooove that pasta dish! I can taste the yummy citrus!
Erin says
This looks like the perfect light and fresh summer pasta dish! I haven’t done much with lemons before, I look forward to reading all about what you do with your lemons! Thanks1
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Erin, I think I put lemons in almost everything! I’ve one more post or two that I plan to dedicate to the Meyer lemons. 🙂
Yadi I. says
This looks very refreshing and light. Great recipe!
Lyndsey @ Vanilla Clouds and Lemon Drops says
Beautiful!
tiffany says
Gorgeous dish! And I’ve never smelled a fresh picked Meyer lemon! But I want toooooo :).
The Duo Dishes-Chrystal says
Fried zest. 🙂 We used zest in and on everything. That’s a great idea to maximize the flavor.
pachecopatty says
Hi Jean, I love this post, it’s a classic Lemons&Anchovies! Your photos are wonderful, love the basket of lemons;-) This looks to be a fantastic bowl of pasta and I like your idea of combining fresh greens to make a salad and pasta dish in one;-)
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Patty! It’s my lazy dish but it works–I still get to have my greens without the extra step. 🙂
Ken⏐hungry rabbit says
A dish that has all my favorite ingredients- lemon, anchovies and pasta, especially bucatini. YES PLEASE.
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Ken! Isn’t bucatini an awesome pasta? Can’t twirl it around your fork but it’s still awesome. 🙂
Elizabeth Q. @asianinamericamag.com says
Jean,such lovely LEMON photos and a great post! I will surely try this one …my son loves anything with lemons…must try when he comes home. Envy you for having Calamansi! They are heaven! Thanks for sharing!
Jun Belen says
A friend of ours gave us a basketful of lemons last week and I have been thinking of ways to use them. Lemon curd, of course, then preserved lemons perhaps. Thomas Keller has a great recipe for them. And then your post comes along… fried lemon zest… perfect! I can’t wait to try this out. I am crazy over anchovies, too so this is perfect. Thank you, Jean.
lemonsandanchovies says
Hi Jun! I’ve got lemon curd and preserved lemons on my list, too! They’re a must-make, aren’t they? 🙂
Hope you’re enjoying your time with your mom. 🙂
Hester aka The Chef Doc says
This is perfection in a bowl 🙂 I’m so jealous that you’ve got citrus trees! I wish I had property of my own to grow such wonderful things. I’ll be making this dish soon!
Maya says
Oh my. Those Meyer lemons from your tree look divine and scream of summer. The fried lemon zest sure gives a certain joie de vivre to your pasta, and I do the same with the salad…throw it all in there and save on washing up the extra dishes!
lemonsandanchovies says
Maya, great minds… 🙂
Marsha @ The Harried Cook says
Hi 🙂 This is my first time visiting your blog and I love it! I was very surprised to see that your latest post had lemons & anchovies… how very cool 🙂 I am so jealous that you have citrus trees! That must be so awesome… I love your site & will be back for more… I hope you will visit mine too! 🙂
lemonsandanchovies says
Marsha, thanks for visiting my blog. I’m so glad you like what you see. Will surely visit yours, too. 🙂
Roxana GreenGirl says
I wish I had my own lemon tree in the backyard, lucky you!
The fried lemon zest is new to me, never heard before but don’t think it hurts if I give it a try.
Thanks for sharing this delicious pasta dish Jean, wonderful presentation
lemonsandanchovies says
Roxana, I don’t know what inspired me to fry the lemon zest but it wasn’t half bad. Regular lemon zest would have worked just fine though. 🙂
kitchenarian says
I want to live somewhere where I can have a lemon tree, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Such beautiful pictures. My favorite way to eat pasta is with a light sauce or a few herbs and spices. This looks amazing.
lemonsandanchovies says
Thanks so much! 🙂
baobabs says
OMG YUM! love the idea of lemon and ruccola in it.
Stephanie says
First: this pasta sounds outstanding. Every last bit of it. It’s on my to-do list.
Second: I’m beyond jealous that you have a meyer lemon tree — I’ve never even been able to FIND a meyer lemon where I live!
missdarcyslibrary says
This looks absolutely divine! I must remember to try it out one day soon.
Stephanie @ okie dokie artichokie says
Wow, looks so beautiful and stunning. Love the combo of anchovies with lemon…delicious!!
simplysublimeblog says
Once again, I don’t eat fish but I used artichokes instead of anchovies. I can’t even explain how much I love this dish! It’s a must try!
Bert says
I made this using zucchini noodles (zoodles, from the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook-http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5695132949/zucchini-spaghetti-zoodles-meatballs) instead of bucatini. I love bucatini and would totally make this again using actual pasta, I just happened to give it a try one night when I had a ton of zucchini but no bucatini. Anyway, this recipe is spot on! Delicious and the zoodles kind of took it to the next level of awesomeness. Thanks for the recipe. Only tweaks I would make next time would be to scale back the lemon zest just a tad and/or add more than one tin of anchovies. I also used about 1.25 cups of panko and served with a sprinkle of finely grated parm. For the zoodles, they don’t need to be par cooked or boiled at all prior to tossing them in the oil right before serving. They cook sufficiently to be “al dente,” with just a good toss in the hot oil, breadcrumbs and lemon. Yay!