Is drunk cooking even a thing? It can be: Midnight Spaghetti

Olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovy fillets, red pepper flakes, Parmesan and parsley create a simple, lively sauce for late-night pasta. Recipe below.

Midnight Spaghetti

MIDNIGHT SPAGHETTI HAD US AT THE NAME. It just sounds like something that comes together quickly with things you have on hand. Something you can actually do after a night out involving wine or cocktails, and even if the wine is still flowing while you cook. When it’s midnight and you’re suddenly hungry, but for something cooler than drive thru fare.

It is all those things. Garlicky, lively and umami-rich, packing a little peppery heat. The anchovy fillets are responsible for the umami. They don’t add any fishiness to the dish, so don’t let that put you off using them—they literally melt into the sauce as you cook it, delivering a satisfying savory note.

Midnight spaghetti is ready in 15 minutes or so. So despite its name, we can attest that it’s also perfect for getting a delicious dinner on the table in a hurry after a long, stressful day. Start a pot of water for the pasta and prep the handful of ingredients while it comes to a boil. Start cooking the sauce when you put the pasta in the pot. Drain and combine. That’s it.

Midnight Spaghetti
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Midnight Spaghetti

Olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovy fillets, red pepper flakes, Parmesan and parsley create a simple, lively sauce for late-night pasta.
Course Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound dry spaghetti (see Kitchen Notes)
  • salt (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed and roughly chopped
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained (and roughly chopped, if large)
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (see Kitchen Notes)
  • 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Parmesan (see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

  • Start a pot of water to cook the pasta. Prep the remaining ingredients while you wait for it to come to a boil. Salt the water and start the pasta. Cook it according to package directions for al dente—depending on the brand, it should take 8 to 10 minutes.
  • When the pasta goes in the water, heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over a medium-low flame. Add the garlic and stir to coat with oil. Add the anchovies, capers and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. If the garlic starts to brown, reduce heat to low—you just want the flavors to combine and the anchovies to melt into the sauce. Turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish cooking.
  • Drain pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce in the skillet and toss to combine, adding a little pasta water if it seems dry—I added about 3 tablespoons. Add parsley and toss to combine.
  • Divide between 2 plates and season with freshly ground black pepper. Grate some Parmesan or Pecorino Romano over the plates and serve.

Kitchen Notes

Pick your pasta, but wisely. I put spaghetti in the name for a reason (some call this midnight pasta). I like the honest, humble heft of spaghetti for this dish. You can do spaghettini if you want something a little thinner, but don't do cappelini for this. In the other direction, linguine would be okay. Don't do short or tubular pasta for this—it just wouldn't be right.
Easy on the salt. You'll note that we've separated it out from the rest of the ingredients, pairing it with the pasta. You only need to salt the cooking water. The anchovies, capers and grated cheese will deliver all the salt you need for the sauce.
Don't touch that heat dial—too much, anyway. The half-teaspoon of red pepper flakes gives midnight spaghetti a needed spicy kick, especially if you're eating it at midnight. You can dial it down if you're especially heat sensitive, but don't leave it out.
Cheese is not optional. Some recipes claim that it is—I disagree, unless you are indeed cooking at midnight and it turns out you're out of cheese.

 

 

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9 thoughts on “Is drunk cooking even a thing? It can be: Midnight Spaghetti”

  1. This IS a great name! And a great pasta, too — such simple ingredients that pack pretty hefty flavor. Cacio e pepe has been our traditional pasta to eat at midnight (well, at off hours!) but I can see this replacing it. Thanks!

  2. Thanks, John! We love cacio e pepe too, and that’s even easier than this dish. We very much see both staying in our rotation.

  4. Hi Terry! I am so happy to be receiving your emails again…not sure how I dropped off. Anyway, I’ve just rediscovered home cooking again this past November when I decided to start a generally organic, sugar-free, gluten free diet. I love your recipes and look forward to trying many of these you share in this email. Wondering, have you been doing any recipes with gluten free pastas and flours, superfoods, sugar alternative (honey, hint, hint)? Would I find them under your “Health” category?

  5. Thanks, Dani!

    Hi, Jane! Yeah, I don’t know what happened with the emails—that service seems to have a mind of its own. Also having other technical issues with the blog right now, so getting at archived older posts is currently not working. Regarding gluten-free and sugar-alternative recipes, we haven’t done much in those categories. But there is plenty out there from other sources. I’m glad you’ve rediscovered cooking!

  6. I can’t believe my kids wouldn’t be all over this! But more for mommy then hehehe. my mouth is watering I found that to be very amusing! Does look fabulous. Happy Valentine’s Day

  9. Pingback: How to develop your own pasta recipe, the 3 part Bon Appetit way – Bernie Michalik: Cooking

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