Anchovy soup "Zuppa di acciughe"

Liguria

Cooking time: about 50 minutes Difficulty: Ingredients, amounts for 4 people: anchovies: 2 lbs 4 oz garlic: carrots: ½ onion: 1 toasted canapes: olive oil: pepper: hot red chilli pepper: a little parsley: salt: tomato sauce: celery: ½ stalk dry white wine:

Preparation: Clean the anchovies, removing their heads, the bones and the intestines, then wash them and dry well. Into an earthenware dish, pour half a glass of oil, add the finely sliced onion and sauté. Take a handful of parsley, clean it and chop finely together with the celery, 1 clove of garlic, the half carrot and a tiny piece of chilli pepper. Add this mixture to the onion, stir and sauté for a few minutes. Then add a little tomato sauce mixed in a glass of white wine. Allow the wine to evaporate, after which remove the dish from the heat. Add the anchovies, season with salt and pepper and then stir until they take on flavour in the sauce and, in part, absorb it. Return to the heat, cooking the anchovies on a moderate heat for about half an hour and adding 2 Lt (3 ½ pints) of hot, salted water a little at a time. While it is cooking, the anchovies should not be stirred to avoid breaking them: it is enough to shake the dish every now and then, to prevent them from sticking. Accompany the soup with slices of bread toasted in the oven.