Anchovies, anyone?

[freshflour]

I love anchovies.  I simply adore anchovies.  I like them on my salads, and I like them on my pizzas.  And the best anchovy pizza, to me, is one with a fairly delicate, fish, almost beer-flavored anchovy.  Pizza Hut thin pizza with anchovies consistently has this quality.  Unfortunately, I've never found an anchovy in a supermarket that lives up to my expectations.  Supermarket anchovies are usually skinny, salt-and-oil drenched, shriveled up little things, and nothing like the fat fish you get on a good greek salad.  Worse yet, when you put them on a pizza, you had might as well be spooning salt on top.  Who here loves anchovy pizza as much as I do?  What anchovies do you use?  Where do you get them?  Do you find that brine-packed anchovies are less salty than oil-packed?

[canadianbacon]

Hi FreshFlour 

I have to be honest and say I don't like anything much that comes from the water  , I guess
I can blame that on my parents, - as they were not seafood / fish eaters, and because of that we never
had the chance to get a taste for it.

I wish I had, because I always hear people going on about how great seafood is, so I guess I'm missing out.

I do love Caesar salad, and authentic ones are made with anchovies, but then again I guess there are so
many flavours going on, that I have never detected them outright, or I guess many are "fake" Caesars and don't add them in as they are considered "expensive"

I can see though that this can add a nice saltyness to the pizza, if added to the top of the cheese, the salt and cheese would be a nice combo.

You have any images of any of your pizzas ? I'd love to see how they turned out.... anyway I'm sure many will jump on this thread, as many are anchovy lovers I'm sure 

[Bill/SFNM]

I am crazy about anchovies. I use the big tins of salt-packed for all kinds of things. When quality counts, I use these, obscenely expensive ones:

http://www.gustiamo.com/cgi-bin/front_end/prodotto?id=152

Bill/SFNM

[Pete-zza]

Bill,

David Rosengarten, the cookbook author and food critic, highly recommended the very same Nettuno anchovies you mentioned (in the Sept. 2005 issue of The Rosengarten Report). However, he said that he would not use them on pizzas. He said that he could eat anchovies with his breakfast cereal but just didn't get the pizza connection, especially when the anchovies cook on top of the pie. That was a big "ugh!" to him. I am also a big anchovy fan and usually end up with everyone else's at restaurants that use them on Caesar salads.

Peter

[Ronzo]

I just started dicing them up and using them in my pasta sauce recently. They bring a nice different flavor to it. Make it a little more unique.


By the way... if anyone loves to cook lasagna, but has someone in their family that doesn't like the flavor or texture of Ricotta cheese, use homemade Alfredo sauce in the lasagna instead of the Ricotta. They'll love it. If you need a recipe for homemade Alfredo, let me know. I have a good one.


Try adding some sliced prosciutto and some pancetta to the lasagna in between layers too. They bring a nice smoky flavor to it.

[Bill/SFNM]

However, he said that he would not use them on pizzas.

Peter,

As much as I enjoy the DR Report (my pantry is full of his recommendations), I do not share his dislike of achovies on pizzza. One reason I like the Nettuno on pizzas is that they don't dissolve into the other toppings. You know it when you hit a piece of fish!

Bill/SFNM

[Kinsman]

I like anchovies.
I even like the horrible little things in a can at the supermarket...salty, fishy, yummy.

I like to put them on the side and use a tiny piece with a bite of pizza.

[pam]

The best thing about anchovies is that you have the the whole pizza to yourself.

[freshflour]

The best thing about anchovies is that you have the the whole pizza to yourself.

True, although I have introduced a number of people to the world of anchovies who otherwise wouldn't have tried them.  It's an acquired taste.

[Kinsman]

It's funny....most anybody will tell you, " I hate anchovies!"  But ask them if they have ever tried them....most of 'em haven't.

I guess it is an acquired taste but it's one that I acquired pretty easily.

[Caz at Margheritas]

Hi

I LOVE anchovies! Number 3 on our shop's menu is the Genovese (1 and 2 are the Margherita and Marinara) which features whole fillets of Castrovinci anchovies, our anchovie loving customers always rave about it. I recommend this brand as they are plump and well flavoured without any bitterness or oversaltiness. If you buy the supermarket brands that are too dry and salty, soak in milk for a couple of hours or overnight then rinse in water and they are much better.

If you buy yours packed in good quality olive oil don't throw out the oil, it is fabulous used to roast potatoes and other veggies with a little fresh rosemary and fresh parsley added at the end of cooking.

[Trinity]

Yup! I love them!

[Trinity]

Here is a homemade pie I made with anchovies .

[Kinsman]

That looks delicious.
Are those a Kalamata-type olive, or just regular black olives?

[Trinity]

Just regular black olives.

[RockyMarciano]

I hate big chunks of anchovies, what i do is cut em up really small and it tastes good that way

[Fio]

Hi .

If you buy yours packed in good quality olive oil don't throw out the oil, it is fabulous used to roast potatoes and other veggies with a little fresh rosemary and fresh parsley added at the end of cooking.

QFT.  As a matter of fact, when I use canned anchovies packed in oil, I brush the dough with the packing oil before adding the sauce.  Then I apply the entire can of anchovies, radially, so that every bite has some anchovy in it.  drizzle any remaining oil from the anchovy can.

MMMMMM!

[apizza]

Here's my brand. Available here in CT and they are larger and thicker than some of the tin anchovies.  I use the ones in the jar. This brand has quite a few good items.
http://www.sclafanifoods.com/cart/index.php?cPath=29&osCsid=4475dde30cb60718ccc5373105616291

[Johnny the Gent]

when I use canned anchovies packed in oil, I brush the dough with the packing oil before adding the sauce.  Then I apply the entire can of anchovies, radially, so that every bite has some anchovy in it.  drizzle any remaining oil from the anchovy can.

MMMMMM!

I like this idea, I´m gonna have to try that. 
I´ve tried the same thing with Porcini mushrooms!!!  I saved the water that I used to rehydrate the dried ceps, using it as the water for the pizza dough! it gave the dough a nice tan color.  After I shaped the dough, I brushed porcini oil (homemade) on the skin, on the border, and what went on top of the pie- you guessed it- Porcinis sauteed in porcini oil!