Spaghetti alla Carrettiera alla SicilianaSicilian Carrettiera Spaghetti

Blanch, peel and prepare tomatoes

• 1 Bring 1.5 L water to a boil over high heat and prepare a separate bowl of ice water.
• 2 Core 700 g ripe tomatoes and score a shallow cross in the bottom.
• 3 Lower 2–3 tomatoes at a time into boiling water; after 10–15 seconds, when the skin curls from the cuts, transfer to ice water with a skimmer.
• 4 Once cooled slightly, peel with fingers, halve crosswise and scoop out and discard only seeds and jelly.
• 5 Transfer flesh and any juice flowing from its cut surfaces into a bowl. Do not drain away that juice in a colander.

Prepare the raw tomato sauce

• 1 Crush the flesh by hand, without a knife, into uneven 1.5–2 cm chunks.
• 2 Remove the germs from 2 garlic cloves and slice thinly; crush the remaining 2 with the flat of a knife and add to the bowl with their cores intact.
• 3 Deseed 1 dried chili, crush coarsely with fingers and add with 6 g sauce salt.
• 4 Drizzle in 80 ml extra virgin olive oil and mix with 10–15 broad folds from the bottom using a wooden spoon.
• 5 Tear 15 g basil leaves by hand into the bowl and fold just 1 time, gently submerging them.

Marinate at room temperature

• 1 MeanwhileDuring the 30-minute marinade, make the mollica atturrata in step 4.
• 2 Cover the bowl with a clean cloth, not plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature, 20–25°C, for 30 minutes.

Make mollica atturrata, toasted breadcrumbs

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the crumbs cool, start boiling the pasta water for step 5.
• 2 Finely chop 3 anchovy fillets and crush with the flat of a knife to a paste.
• 3 Crumble 80 g stale bread interior by hand into uneven pieces around 5 mm.
• 4 Put 30 ml extra virgin olive oil and anchovy in a frying pan over low heat for 1–2 minutes, pressing with a wooden spoon until dissolved.
• 5 Once the anchovy dissolves completely, add all the crumbs and toast over medium-low heat for 5–7 minutes, stirring constantly.
• 6 Once uniformly deep golden, turn off and immediately spread on a plate or tray to cool.

Cook pasta and warm plates

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the pasta boils, remove and discard the 2 crushed garlic cloves from the tomatoes; mix 40 g of the 80 g Pecorino Siciliano into the bowl with a wooden spoon.
• 2 MeanwhileWhile the pasta boils, arrange 4 serving plates on a tray and warm for 10 minutes in an 80°C oven.
• 3 Bring 4 L water to a boil over high heat in a large pot, then dissolve 40 g coarse salt, 10 g/L.
• 4 Fan in 400 g spaghetti, submerge and separate with long chopsticks, and boil over medium-high heat for 30 seconds less than the package time.
• 5 Reserve 120 ml cooking water in a measuring cup 1 minute before draining.

Toss raw sauce with piping-hot pasta

• 1 Pour 500 ml boiling water into a large serving bowl, swirl over the whole interior, leave 1 minute, discard and wipe dry.
• 2 Transfer all the marinated tomato sauce, including its juice, into the warm bowl.
• 3 Lift and drain the cooked spaghetti with tongs and transfer while hot into the sauce.
• 4 Lift from the bottom with tongs and make about 20 broad folds over 30–40 seconds to combine.
• 5 If juice pools below without coating the pasta, add reserved cooking water 2 tbsp at a time and fold similarly, using up to 120 ml to emulsify.

Plate with contrasting crisp crumbs

• 1 Lift pasta with tongs into high twisted mounds on the 4 oven-warmed plates and divide the remaining sauce equally over them.
• 2 Divide the remaining 40 g Pecorino Siciliano among the 4 plates, 10 g per 1 plate.
• 3 Scatter the 80 g toasted crumbs, about 20 g per plate, then coarsely grind 2 g black pepper over all.