fusilli al sugo di seppie
fusilli with cuttlefish in a tomato sauce
First thing's first - the image above isn't quite as advertised, as my fishmonger only had one tiny cuttlefish left - so if like me you can't find cuttlefish, squid will do!
For those of you who find the idea of black squid ink pasta a little extreme, try this. It's actually got almost exactly the same taste as its darker coloured cousin, but... it's less black. As with any fish ingredient, try and buy the best quality you can afford. Fresh is normally tastier than frozen, but an alternative is to mix both fresh and frozen, like I've done here.
I've also used slightly less common LONG fusilli - if you can't get hold of these, try reginelle, tagliatelle or linguine for long shapes or casarecce or busiate for short.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
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cook a basic tomato sauce with raw tomatoes, garlic and EVO
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cut the cleaned cuttlefish or squid into pieces
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cook the cuttlefish, then add to the tomato sauce
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boil the pasta water and then cook the pasta
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combine the sauce and pasta
fusilli with cuttlefish in a tomato sauce
INGREDIENTS
(4 people)
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600-900g fresh/frozen squid
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3 tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes in oil (optional)
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400g tomato polpa
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2 tablespoons of capers
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2 medium cloves garlic
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parsley
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white wine
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fresh cayenne chilli pepper / ground cayenne pepper
PASTA
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400g fresh long fusilli (Arco)
MANTECATURA
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minimal
METHOD
Make a tomato sauce with garlic - just start frying the garlic gently in EVO for a few minutes, then add the polpa. For a more intense tomato taste, consider adding a few finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes too
Make sure that the cuttlefish or squid you've got has been properly cleaned (no insides, ink sacks or beaks), and then cut the hoods into small pieces, and, depending on the size of the squid, the tentacles too. I've used baby frozen squid and fresh cornish squid and fresh cuttlefish for this meal (squid in the main shots and cuttlefish in the ingredients shots below) - with cuttlefish you'll probably go for slightly bigger chunks and have shorter tentacles, depending on the size cuttlefish or squid you get.
Cook the fish in EVO, the other crushed cove of garlic and a splash of wine... let it simmer in the wine and its juices for about 5 mins and then add everything to the tomato sauce. Cook on a low heat until you're happy with the tenderness of the squid/cuttlefish, and of course add water if it begins to dry out. Add the chilli of your choice but don't overdo the heat. When you're happy with how cooked the squid is and the sauce has reduced quite a lot, so that it forms soft peaks that don't collapse in the pan, it's ready for the pasta.
Cook and boil the pasta. I used long, store-bought fresh fusilli (Arco), but linguine, spaghetti, or square spaghetti alla chitarra could work too. For a shorter shape alternative with similar 'eating', try busiate (Morelli).
When you're happy that the pasta is cooked, fish it out of the cooking water and add it to the sauce. Toss to combine and serve immediately with more chilli to taste, possibly a little fresh parsley and for cheese lovers, a hint of pecorino. Yes that's cheese with fish but as you may well have read already in this book, that's perfectly permissible and completely ignores the irrational Italian 'no cheese with fish' mantra / phobia. Open your mouth and your mind will follow.
NUTRITION PER SERVING
KCAL: 638
Fat: 10.7g
S/Fat: 2g
Carb: 78.8g
Sug: 5.7g
Fib: 5g
Prot: 48.2g
Salt: 2.26g
