Pasta al nivuro di siccia
Posted: 21 May '10 by Niall
Pasta al nivuro di siccia
Ever since I managed to find some sachets of squid ink I’ve been dying to make pasta al nivuro di siccia – pasta in squid ink sauce.
I’d never seen the dish in person and I’ve only managed to track down a few photographs online, which only added to the mystique. It’s always seemed like the most exotic attack on the senses – delicate rings of squid mixed through a healthy serving of pasta, drenched in a midnight-black sauce – you have to overcome some subsconscious barrier which tells you that, despite the marvellous aroma, nothing that looks like that should be in your mouth.
With St. George’s market still several days away we paid a flying visit to the Chinese supermarket on Donegall Pass to locate the last elusive ingredient, the squid.
Finally, and with a growing sense of trepidation, I was ready to attempt the recipe..
You can see the photos here:
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 2 large squid tubes
- 2 sachets of squid ink
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 500g long pasta (such as spaghetti or linguine – we used the latter)
- 120g grated pecorino cheese (parmesan will do at a pinch)
- Flaked red chilli
Method
- After washing the squid tubes, carefully peel off the outer membrane, taking care not to tear the soft, white flesh.
- Slice the squid tubes into 1cm-thick rings and leave to one side.
- Finely chop the red onion and garlic.
- Cook your pasta in a separate saucepan with some lightly salted water – drain and leave to one side when the pasta is al dente.
- Pour a good glug of olive oil into a deep saucepan and sweat the onion and garlic over a low heat.
- When the onion has softened and become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and stir thoroughly.
- When the tomato sauce has heated through, add the squid rings and allow them to cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the squid ink and watch your sauce transform from a vibrant red to an inky black.
- Add the chilli flakes (as much as you think you could handle) and stir thoroughly.
- Take your cooked pasta and tip the pasta into your sauce, stirring the sauce through the pasta.
- Serve each portion of your pasta and squid ink sauce in deep dishes, grating the pecorino and drizzling some good olive oil over the pasta at the last moment.
Enjoy!
Thought for food
Traditional Italian cookery dictates that it’s sacrilege to add cheese to any seafood dish – but seafood with pecorino (well, anything with pecorino) is our guilty pleasure. Kelly and I just love the flavour far too much to leave it out. Whether you add cheese to this dish or not is between you and your conscience.
Squid ink is an intense black colour and has a strong iodine taste which is strangely addictive. I just couldn’t get enough of the pasta in squid ink sauce – it was on my mind for hours after our meal, and I found myself making excuses to visit the kitchen for another nibble.
Other information
Image 7 is taken from another, excellent blog – FX Cuisine (just until we get a decent one ourselves!).
Tags: italian food, pasta, recipe, seafood, squid ink
Categories: Recipes
Making a Spanish dish of black rice which requires squid ink so far unable to get it. Did you order yours online or buy it locally?
Hi Alana – we weren’t able to find Squid Ink sachets locally – and I see from the link in the Pasta in Squid Ink article that the Italian Deli has closed!
Unless you do find them in Northern Ireland I’d recommend buying online from: http://www.vallebona.co.uk – The sachets come in a twin packet 2x4g @ £1.92 each
Hope this helps!