- courseAntipasto
- difficultyEasy
- preparation time20 minutes prep, 5 hours marinating
Liguria offers some of Italy’s freshest-tasting fare, including many light seafood dishes. In this sunny regional recipe for marinated anchovies, simplicity reigns. As it marinates, the acid in the lemon simultaneously “cooks” the fish while adding a bright flavor.
Acciughe Marinate alla Ligure (Ligurian Marinated Anchovies)
Recipe courtesy of Eataly
Yield: 8 servings
2½ pounds small to medium fresh anchovies, cleaned & scaled*
Juice of 4 lemons
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4-5 fresh basil leaves
Fine sea salt, to taste
*Your friendly fishmonger can do this!
Remove the heads from the anchovies. Rinse the fish, and transfer to a nonreactive flat-bottom container. Season generously with salt.
Pour the lemon juice over the anchovies. Cover, and refrigerate until the fish is opaque, 5 to 6 hours. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, though the anchovies will become more acidic as they sit in the lemon juice.
To serve, remove the anchovies from the lemon juice. Serve these anchovies on the bone, or fillet them before serving. Transfer to a serving dish, and drizzle on the olive oil. Tear the basil leaves, and scatter over the fish.
Buon appetito!
