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
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ 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.