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Why this recipe
A 30-minute summer pasta built on cherry tomatoes from the farmers market and a peppery handful of arugula. Anchovies and fennel seed do quiet, savory work in the background.
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This one was developed specifically to pair with My Fruit Trees, my collaboration with Pali Wine Co., and itโs the recipe I keep coming back to with the bottle open on the counter.
A pasta built for a bottle
Wine and food are inextricably linked for me, and what better way to celebrate a wine I helped make than with a recipe pairing? I created Bucatini with Burst Cherry Tomatoes, Fennel Seed, and Arugula specifically for My Fruit Trees, my collaboration with Pali Wine Co. Hereโs why it works.
The burst cherry tomatoes give you a jammy sweetness with a tangy edge that pulls the wild strawberry and pomegranate notes right out of the glass. The anchovies, fennel seed, and red pepper flake lay down a briny, savory, slightly spicy foundation that the wineโs bright acid cuts through cleanly. And the peppery arugula, finished raw at the end, echoes the fresh rosemary and ginger on the wineโs nose in a way that feels almost intentional. It was.
If you donโt have a bottle of My Fruit Trees on the counter, any bright, lightly chilled red will love this plate. Rosรฉ works too. The point is acid and fruit.
The pasta itself comes together in the time it takes the bucatini to cook. You bloom fennel seed in olive oil, melt anchovies into the fat, then two pints of halved cherry tomatoes into the pan and let them collapse into a loose, glossy sauce. The arugula goes in raw at the end and wilts from residual heat. Pecorino to finish.
What makes this work
Three small things that make a real difference:
The fennel seed blooms first. Most recipes treat fennel seed as a sprinkle. Toasting it whole in oil before anything else hits the pan is what gives the sauce its faint anise warmth. Itโs the flavor people will notice and not be able to name.
The anchovies dissolve. They are not fishy. If you have an anchovy doubter at the table, this is the recipe to win them over. Pressed into hot oil with the back of a wooden spoon, four fillets melt in under a minute and disappear into a deep, savory salinity that reads as umami, not fish. The pasta does not taste like anchovies. It tastes seasoned.
The pasta water. Add the pasta water a few tablespoons at a time, keep the heat moderate, and toss vigorously. Youโre looking for a glossy, clinging sauce. Not a soup, not a paste. More on that in the tips below.
Ingredient highlights
Cherry tomatoes (2 pints / ~24 oz, halved). Look for the smallest, sweetest ones at the farmers market in June and July. Sungold and Sun Sugar are the gold standard for bursting because their thin skins blister fast and their flesh collapses into something genuinely jammy. Black Cherry, Sweet 100, and Super Sweet 100 also work. Avoid grape tomatoes if you can; their skins are tougher and theyโll fight you in the pan.
Baby arugula (3 cups). Buy it loose at the farmers market when you can, in tender baby leaves rather than the big peppery bunches. Overgrown arugula turns the dish bitter and stringy. If your bag has been in the fridge more than a couple days, taste a leaf before adding. It loses its peppery edge fast, and you may want to bump it up to 4 cups.
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Garlic (4 cloves, thinly sliced). Look for a head that feels heavy and tight in the hand, with papery skin and no green sprouts pushing through the top. Spring garlic from the farmers market in April and May is a treat here if you can find it; use the bulb only and slice as directed. If your cloves have a visible green germ down the center, halve them and pop it out before slicing. It turns acrid in the pan.
Oil-packed anchovy fillets (4). Packed in good olive oil, fillets stay firm and dissolve cleanly.
Fennel seed (1 teaspoon). Whole seed, not ground. Fennel seed loses potency fast in those little supermarket jars. Smell it before you bloom it. It should still smell like licorice.
Bucatini (1 pound). The hollow center is what makes this pasta. The sauce gets inside as well as outside the noodle. If you canโt find it, thick spaghetti works. Donโt sub anything short.
Pecorino Romano, finely grated. Sharp, salty, dry.
Tips and swaps
Add the pasta water slowly. This is the single most common place this recipe goes sideways. If you dump in the full cup at once, the sauce thins out and never recovers. Two or three tablespoons at a time, tossing between additions, until the sauce coats the noodle in a glossy sheet. You may use ยฝ cup. You may use โ .
Anchovy doubters: trust the recipe. Four fillets in a pound of pasta is not โanchovy pasta.โ It is well-seasoned pasta. If youโre truly anchovy-averse, sub 1 tablespoon white miso plus a pinch of extra salt for the same savory base, no fillet. But try it once with the anchovies. I have converted several people.
For more heat, double the red pepper flakes. For less, leave them out entirely.
Make it a meal for two with leftovers. This serves 4 generously as a main, or 6 as something served with a heartier main. It does not reheat very well. Bucatini turns gluey by morning.
No bucatini? Use thick spaghetti. Avoid short shapes. This wants something to wrap around.
Print
Bucatini with Burst Cherry Tomatoes, Fennel Seed, and Arugula
| Prep: 10m | Cook: 20m | Total: 30m |
A 30-minute summer pasta with burst cherry tomatoes, anchovy, fennel seed, and peppery arugula on bucatini. Developed to pair with My Fruit Trees, my Pali Wine Co. collaboration.
Ingredients
- 1 pound bucatini
- 2 pints (~24 ounces) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- ยฝ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- ยผ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ยฝ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 3 cups baby arugula
- Pecorino Romano, finely grated, for serving
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel seed and let it bloom until fragrant and just starting to darken, about 30 seconds. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic is pale gold and softened, about 1 minute.
- Add the anchovy fillets and press them into the oil with the back of a wooden spoon, stirring until they dissolve completely into the fat, about 1 minute.
- Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the cherry tomatoes, along with the salt. Cook undisturbed until the tomatoes blister, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir, then continue cooking and pressing some tomatoes with the back of the spoon until the pan looks jammy and glossy and the tomatoes have collapsed into a chunky loose sauce, 6 to 8 minutes total. Reduce heat to low.
- Drop the bucatini into the boiling water and cook 1 minute short of the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain.
- Add the bucatini directly to the skillet. Toss over medium heat, adding pasta water a few tablespoons at a time, until the sauce clings to the noodles and looks glossy, about 2 minutes.
- Off the heat, add the arugula and toss until just wilted, about 30 seconds.
- Divide among shallow bowls. Shower generously with grated pecorino and serve.
Notes
ย
- Anchovies fully dissolve and read as savory, not fishy. Donโt skip them.
- Add pasta water slowly, a few tablespoons at a time, for a glossy emulsified sauce. You may not need the full cup.
- For a vegetarian version: swap the anchovies for 1 tablespoon white miso plus a pinch of extra salt.
About Carmen
Carmen develops, tests, and writes recipes from her Zone 10b garden in Los Angeles. Her work centers on whatโs growing right now and what to do with it.
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