Calculating the Costs: Spaghetti With Olives and Anchovies

Sometimes when I’m not sure what I’ll be having for dinner, I’ll look in my cupboard to see what I have on hand. The other day, it was pasta and anchovies, and after a quick Google search, I found a recipe for spaghetti with olives and anchovies from Nigella Lawson.

• 8 oz. spaghetti ($2)
• Salt for pasta water, to taste ($0.05)
• 10 pitted green olives ($1.50)
• 10 anchovy fillets (from can or jar), drained ($1.50)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped ($0.05)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts (I substituted almonds, $0.50)
• Leaves from small bunch parsley (about 1 cup, packed) ($1)
• Zest and juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon ($0.40)
• 1/4 cup olive oil ($1)

Total: $8

I usually will substitute almonds for pine nuts in these kinds of pesto dishes because do you know how much pine nuts cost? The little container at the store down the street from me was $17 — I took one look at it and ran, deciding to stick with my container of olives and bunch of parsley (the two ingredients that I did not have on hand).

The dish made three servings for me or $2.66 a meal. And even without adding any salt, the anchovies and olives provided plenty.

Verdict: I never made a pasta dish with anchovies before! I would do this one again. Nigella says the flavor is “ka-pow” and it was nearly that (I added some Sriracha for some extra “ka-pow”).

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.