Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici

Colatura di Alici: The Ancient Roman Flavour Bomb Your Pasta Has Been Waiting For

Colatura di Alici

The Ancient Roman Flavour Bomb Your Pasta Has Been Waiting For

Some sauces politely ask to be invited to dinner. Colatura di Alici kicks open the pantry door, wearing linen, smelling faintly of the Amalfi Coast, and announcing that your spaghetti has been under-seasoned its entire life.

Colatura di Alici is a traditional Italian anchovy sauce with roots tracing back to ancient Roman garum, the legendary fermented fish condiment once prized across the Roman Empire. Today, this amber-coloured liquid is loved in Southern Italian coastal cooking for one very good reason: it makes food taste deeper, richer, and more delicious without needing a long list of ingredients.

Think of it as umami in liquid form. It is savoury, briny, elegant, and powerful, so do not pour it like soy sauce after a long day. This is “a few drops will do it” territory. Use it sparingly and it rewards you with restaurant-level flavour.

The classic move is simple: spaghetti, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, parsley, and a small amount of Colatura di Alici. Toss it together and suddenly dinner tastes like it came from a seaside trattoria where the waiter calls you “signore” and the view costs extra.

But pasta is only the beginning. Add a few drops to seafood dishes, risotto, roasted vegetables, sautéed greens, salad dressings, marinades, or even a Caesar-style dressing when you want anchovy depth without chopping anchovies. Chefs love it because it adds complexity. Home cooks love it because it makes simple food taste intentional. Food bloggers love it because “ancient Roman anchovy sauce” sounds far more exciting than “I forgot to buy cream.”

Use Colatura di Alici when a dish tastes flat and needs a savoury lift. It is especially good with lemon, garlic, olive oil, parsley, chilli, tomatoes, seafood, potatoes, greens, and grilled vegetables.

In short, this is not just anchovy sauce. This is amber gold for people who believe pasta should never be boring.

Quick Recipe: Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici

Cook spaghetti until al dente. In a bowl, mix extra virgin olive oil, finely grated garlic, lemon zest, chopped parsley, and a few drops of Colatura di Alici. Toss the hot pasta through the sauce, adding a splash of pasta water if needed. Finish with extra parsley and cracked pepper.

Simple. Coastal. Ridiculously good.

Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici

This simple but seriously delicious pasta dish is inspired by the coastal cooking of Cetara on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, the spiritual home of Colatura di Alici.

 

 Made with just a handful of ingredients, this recipe lets the rich, savoury depth of Colatura do all the heavy lifting. Think spaghetti, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parsley and a splash of amber umami magic. That’s it. No complicated sauce. No culinary gymnastics. Just bold Southern Italian flavour in a bowl.

 

Colatura di Alici is naturally salty and intensely savoury, so the pasta is cooked in unsalted water. A little goes a long way, but when used correctly, it transforms a simple plate of spaghetti into something deeply satisfying, elegant and full of coastal Italian character.

Author
Andrew Harrington
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 400g La Molisana Spaghetti
  • 2 tablespoons Colatura di Alici
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the Colatura di Alici, extra virgin olive oil, finely chopped garlic and parsley. Mix well, then leave the mixture to stand for at least 30 minutes. This gives the flavours time to mingle and become best friends.
  2. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling unsalted water. Do not salt the water, as Colatura di Alici is already naturally salty and will season the dish beautifully.
  3. Once the pasta is al dente, reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the spaghetti.
  4. Add the reserved pasta water to the Colatura mixture and stir well to combine. Add the hot spaghetti and toss thoroughly until the pasta is glossy, well coated and smelling like it belongs beside the Amalfi Coast.
  5. Serve immediately with extra parsley if desired.
  6. Simple, savoury and full of umami, this is the kind of pasta that proves you do not need many ingredients when the ingredients are this good.
Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.