TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Alici in Tortiera alla PugliesePugliese Baked Anchovies

Pugliese Baked Anchovies
Difficulty★★☆☆☆ Prep0 min Cook18 min servings2

A Pugliese home-style dish of fresh anchovies layered with breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley, then baked with lemon juice and olive oil. Crisp breadcrumbs contrast beautifully with the tender fish.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.

Ingredients (2 servings)

  • Fresh anchoviesRemove heads and innards and butterfly; leave or remove the backbone as preferred500 g
  • Fine breadcrumbs100 g
  • GarlicFinely chopped2 cloves
  • Flat-leaf parsleyFinely chopped2 tbsp
  • Lemon juice1 lemon, juiced
  • Extra virgin olive oil60 ml

Method

15 min

Chop the garlic and parsley

  • 1 Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic.
  • 2 Finely chop the flat-leaf parsley.
  • 3 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
23 min

Mix the breadcrumbs

  • 1 Thoroughly combine 100 g breadcrumbs with the garlic and parsley.
35 min

Make the first layer

  • 1 Oil a baking dish with olive oil.
  • 2 Scatter a handful of the breadcrumb mixture over the base.
  • 3 Arrange a single layer of anchovies, skin-side down.
45 min

Build the layers and drizzle with oil

  • 1 Sprinkle the anchovy layer with the breadcrumb mixture.
  • 2 Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil evenly over it.
  • 3 Repeat the layers until all the anchovies are used, finishing with breadcrumbs on top.
517 min

Bake

  • 1 Bake at 200°C for 15–18 minutes.
  • 2 Cut into portions and serve hot.

Ready when

It is ready when the top is golden (15–18 minutes).

A view of Bari, Puglia
Bari, PugliaItaly Photo: Laurens R. Krol · CC BY 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

The fish market in Bari, Puglia, is bustling before dawn. Alici, the anchovies freshly landed from the Adriatic, may be eaten just as they are on the beach, or arranged in a household terracotta dish before disappearing into the oven.

The tortiera in alici in tortiera is a round terracotta baking dish. Fresh anchovies are opened and boned, layered alternately with breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, oregano and olive oil, and baked.

In Pugliese homes, the freshness of fish matters greatly. Local artisans have passed down the saying that freshness comes first with anchovies.

Chef Authen

Bring the full course home next weekend.

Bring every dish to the table at its best.

Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.

  • One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
  • One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
  • Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.
Download on the App Store