The Chef: Meg Colleran Sahs (Terzo Piano) The Challenger: Sarah Grueneberg (Spiaggia) The Ingredient: Colatura
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“Anchovies have a lot of oil, so that oiliness creates a lot of flavor. I think that really comes through in the anchovy sauce,” chef Meg Colleran Sahs said. It’s similar to the fish sauce that many people are familiar with from Asian cuisine, but milder and more complex in flavor, according to Sahs. The fish juice is traditionally used in Italy to season pastas, salads, and sauces.
Sahs ended up making a simple tomato sauce with garlic, Spanish olives, almonds with paprika, and arugula, served over spaghetti alla chitarra (“guitar spaghetti,” which is made on an instrument with evenly spaced strings that create a square spaghetti when the sheets of pasta are pressed through it). After toasting the garlic, Sahs added tomato passata, a sort of puree that she said has a great flavor and more texture than most cooked tomato sauces. A little pasta water helped bring the sauce together, as did a bit of butter. The olives went in near the end, along with the colatura, almonds toasted with smoked paprika, and arugula. After combining the sauce with the pasta, Sahs topped things off with another dash of colatura—”just so you get it right on your nose when you’re taking a bite.”
Video by Michael Gebert/Sky Full of Bacon
In a small sauté pan, heat about one tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. Add almonds, paprika and a sprinkling of kosher salt. Cook until almonds are slightly toasted, drain on a paper towel and reserve for later use.
Finish each dish with a sprinkling of the olives and almonds and a dash of colatura.
