Birboni is an ancient pasta of the Amalfi Coast, the origins of which lie in the housewive's kitchen.

Whenever fresh pasta was made, in order not to waste a thing, all the flour that did not end up in the pasta dough would be collected (even swept up from the floor) and reused to make into more pasta! It became so popular that factories started to make this wholemeal (whole wheat) variety of tagliatelle, sold as ‘birboni’. Obviously, it is now made with clean flour!

Birboni are usually combined with a few simple, local ingredients: anchovies and Colatura di Alici, a concentrated anchovy sauce that comes from the coastal village of Cetara. The sauce is available in Italian delis, however birboni are only obtainable in the local area, so I have substituted wholemeal (whole wheat) tagliatelle here.

Recipe adapted from Pasta Perfecto, Pavilion Books