anchovies for the summer

My parents-in-law described a sauce they had on a cruise that was basically olive oil with anchovies dissolved into it over pasta. My husband loves anchovies so I gave it the make-it-my-own try and it turned out pretty good. The lesson learned is that for about 1/2 c of olive oil you only need about 6 anchovies (not the entire jar, as I used... it would have been nice for my husband to have passed that bit of information along earlier, hehe).

For the sauce:
Heat 1/2 c olive oil on medium heat (don't let it splatter). Add 3 minced garlic cloves and 6 anchovies, diced. Mix and spread until the anchovies basically disintegrate. (This took me 30 minutes but I'm sure that you can do this much quicker if the right amount of anchovies are used.)

To serve:

We tossed the sauce with gnocchi and diced heirloom tomatoes, and then added chopped parsley on top, and steamed spinach on the side. I absolutely recommend the parsley no matter how you serve this sauce! We also had some bread for sopping up the sauce that was fantastic from Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.