The Key To Anchovy Butter Pasta

Plus, what Massimo Bottura teaches us about pesto.

Heyo!

Did you know that it’s financially reckless for me to eat out every day? Like, I just can’t do it. Imagine I had an accountant. That accountant would probably be calling me to say things like, “Danny, you can’t keep budgeting $150 for sandwiches every week. Your savings is almost gone.” And then I go yeah? Well then why is it called a SANDWICH account and not a savings account? And then he goes, “It is called a savings account,” but by that time I have already hung up the phone and thrown it out the car window.

Truly, this Substack is only funded by me (and 15 paid subscribers! Thank you!) so I can’t really afford to cover restaurants every week. I would simply run out of money. And health! The dirty little secret to being a food writer? You almost always feel like shit. I simply couldn’t do what the good folks at the Los Angeles Times do. It sounds rigorous. Shit, I couldn’t taste test packaged foods at Sporked for more than a year. It was killing me. So, I try to take 3-4 days a week where I’m eating fairly clean now, and some weeks I need more like 5 or 6. This is one of those weeks. What can I say? I care about myself. So fuckin’ sue me!!

What I like about these thrifty, healthy weeks is that they keep me honest. They also allow me to explore other moves at home in the kitchen. That’s why the log line for The Move is food recommendations of all kinds. Because who among us is always eating out? Sometimes, the move is a tip or trick that you can do at home. This week it’s about pasta (what else?). I’ve got a weekly pasta pop-up that happens out of my apartment here in L.A., so occasionally you’ll get some juicy tidbits regarding service. This is one of those weeks.

This past Sunday I sold anchovy butter cavatelli with fried capers. It was a fantastic, buttery, salty bomb of flavor that immediately became a hit. I was straight up deeeee-lighted by the number of customers who ordered it. Folks in my DMs ordering anchovies. By god this is what it’s all about.

But you can’t just slop some anchovies in a pan, add butter, then turn on the heat full blast. No, this pasta sauce are much more delicate than that. Here’s the trick to it, which is for paid subscribers only! (Sorry, I gotta do this once a week!)

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