Mar 2, 2010

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia - Squid Ink Spaghetti


Noop, it ain't no modern artwork or some kind of contemporary drawing,
This is just your old simple spaghetti, but with squid ink!

I was in a serious craving for squid ink spaghetti one night,
So here's your typical impulsive buying behavior example,
I got the pasta within 10 minutes online!

Somehow for some reason, squid ink spaghetti is a little bit hard to find around my neighborhood,
Well, if I'm down for paying $20+ per "small" plate of noodles, yes, it's there somewhere,
But with that $20, I can make at least 4 "gigantic" plates of noodles, noodles drowning in fresh seafood,
Decision made, let's cook spaghetti al nero di seppia tonight!


Ingredients (for 4)?

25 medium sized shrimps (peeled, deveined)
8 small calamari (cut into big sizes, I also use the tentacles)
3 large shallots (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (peeled, minced)
1/3 cup of dry white wine
Some fresh basil (julienned, I used about 1/4 cup)
1 can of diced tomatoes (drained)
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 lemon
Red pepper flakes
Sea salt
Olive oil
Tabasco sauce (if desired)

How?

Depend on how much you eat (can't really use my standard, it's kind of "too much" compare to regular human being),
So depend on how much you eat, grab 4 portions of squid ink spaghetti and cook in a pot of boiling water,
Remember to add some salt in the water first!

Have a large pan ready, drizzle some olive oil and toss in chopped shallots along with some sea salt and red pepper flakes,
Cook till it turned slightly translucent, toss in minced garlic, give it a quick stir.

Now add in the shrimps, season with more salt,
I actually add a little bit of salt every time I toss more stuff into the pan,
Season every layer - like Giada, the Food Network star said on TV.

Add the calamari once the shrimps turned slightly pink,
More salt of course, also add the wine, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste,
Give it a quick stir again. 
Now put in some fresh lemon zests, the juice from that lemon, and most of the julienned basil leaves (save some for garnish later),
Bring to a boil and turn to medium heat,
Taste to see if more salt or tomato paste is needed.
(Don't forget to check the other pot of boiling water, make sure the spaghetti is not sticking to each other or to the bottom)

Drain out all the liquid when the spaghetti is done, preferably "al dente."
Transfer to the pan and mix well with the sauce.

Garnish with some basil and possibly a lemon wedge,
Serve with Tabasco sauce if desired, it goes really well with this dish.

Now.....Dig in!

P.S. I just launched my Chinese blog not long ago, if you can ready Chinese, come visit me!:
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/cindylo326

Cindy's Rating: 8

16 comments:

  1. I want some of that ink spaghetti-very witchy it is!

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  2. To Stella~
    Thank you! Maybe next time I'll even add more squid ink in the sauce, it makes your teeth black! (good food for Halloween especially!)

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  3. My instant craving for pasta is the tomato-based sauce...and lots and lots of it.

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  4. To Tigerfish~
    Yeah the tomato-based ones are so good and light too! I used to love alfredo sauce but I can't never eat too much of that!

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  5. I've wanted to try squid ink pasta for a while but haven't been able to find it anywhere. I guess I should start looking harder because this looks absolutely delicious! I love any kind of special pasta - I'm such a sucker for novelty things =).

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  6. Nice- I've been craving squid ink pasta as well,but can't find it anywhere. Where did you buy yours online?

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  7. To Cynthia and Angela~
    I bought mine pasta online from Amazon, there're also a few nice specialty food website out there, give it a try!

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  8. I posted a link to this recipe on my blog today. I was searching the internet for a squid ink pasta recipe and found your blog. This gave me an idea of how to use the pasta I just bought at the store. Thanks!

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  9. To (M)ary~
    Thank you for letting me know! If you can get a hold of real squid ink and add it to the pasta, it'll taste even better (make might make your mouth black!).

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  10. I think my mother has made something like this. She used squid ink for the pasta and it is really delicious.

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  11. To Oak Dining Room Tables~
    Yeah I couldn't get a hold of the actual squid ink. It'll makde the pasta way better tasting, just like the one your mom made!

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  12. Last minute I decided to cook the squid ink spaghetti my husband brought home from Italy recently. I have never made it before so I googled sauce ideas and this blog entry came up. I tried it out with some modifications since my kitchen wasn't currently stocked with all ingredients, but it was delicious! Even my young children inhaled it and that's saying a ton. Thanks so much! And I imagine it would've been even better had I had everything I needed! YUM.

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  13. To Oak Dining Room Tables~
    Thank you so much for the kind words. This really means a lot to me and I'm very glad your family like the dish! (Very happy!!)

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  14. What an excellent recipe!

    I recently returned from Florence with some "nero di seppia" and googled for a recipe and came across yours.

    We made two modifications: omitted the squid and towards the end, as the dish turned out to be a little too acidic, we added a small amount of brown sugar. It was delicious!

    Thanks for sharing it!

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  15. What an excellent recipe!

    I recently returned from Florence with some "nero di seppia" and googled for a recipe and came across yours.

    We made two modifications: omitted the squid and towards the end, as the dish turned out to be a little too acidic, we added a small amount of brown sugar. It was delicious!

    Thanks for sharing it!

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  16. To José Figueroa-O'Farrill~
    Thank you for letting me know that you have tried the recipe! I've always wondering if someone out there really tried my recipe and I'm very happy you made some modifications to suit your taste!!

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