Caesared Spaghetti

Standing in the test kitchen, plan of action in my head, I whipped up my vision—spaghetti in a sauce of anchovies melted in olive oil with garlic, black pepper, and a touch of Dijon and Worcestershire, then finished to a creamy emulsion with the starchy pasta water. Topped with parsley- and lemon zest–studded toasted breadcrumbs, I was sure I’d have invented a brand new pasta that successfully evoked a Caesar salad’s elements of romaine, vinaigrette, and croutons. But once I was halfway through cooking, I was suddenly struck by the certainty that there was no way I’d created something new here. While delicious, it was too familiar in technique and flavor. I quickly realized I’d accidentally created an olive oil version of spaghetti burro e alici, hardly an original idea. Whoops!

So while the recipe is, technically, a Caesar salad–inspired pasta, it’s also an olive oil–based burro e alici. I should have realized that the defining ingredients in a Caesar salad are also super common in many pasta recipes.

As long as I was riffing on the classics, I figured I might as well go all-in and do a second version, one that incorporates the egg element of a Caesar by making an anchovy carbonara—basically, replace the guanciale with anchovies, replace the Pecorino Romano with Parmigiano-Reggiano, and add a dab of Dijon and Worcestershire in a nod the the Caesar. The technique is otherwise the same as a carbonara; as you’ll see in the recipe below, I use my double-boiler trick to ensure a perfectly thickened sauce that isn’t scrambled.