Pasta With Fried Peppers & Bread Crumbs

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/4 lb country bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 8 peperoni cruschi di senise bell peppers or 8 guajillos bell peppers or 8 pasillas bell peppers, stemmed and seeded
• 4 anchovies, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 lb pasta, such as fusilli

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 325˚f.
• 2 bake bread cubes until hard, about 15 minutes.
• 3 transfer to a food processor; process into coarse crumbs.
• 4 heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat.
• 5 add crumbs; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8–10 minutes.
• 6 transfer crumbs to a bowl.
• 7 wipe out skillet; heat remaining oil over medium-high heat.
• 8 add chiles and toast, turning once, about 45 seconds.
• 9 transfer to a plate; let cool.
• 10 tear chiles into 1" pieces.
• 11 reserve oil in skillet.
• 12 set reserved skillet over medium heat and add anchovies; cook, breaking them apart with a wooden spoon, for 1 minute.
• 13 add garlic and tomatoes; cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes soften and burst, about 10 minutes.
• 14 mash tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
• 15 remove from heat and set aside.
• 16 bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil.
• 17 add pasta; cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.
• 18 drain, reserving 1⁄4 cup water.
• 19 transfer pasta and water to reserved skillet of tomatoes over high heat.
• 20 toss to combine; cook until sauce thickens, 1–2 minutes.
• 21 transfer pasta to a platter; sprinkle with bread crumbs and chiles; drizzle with a little oil.
• 22 enjoy!