Pasta with Squid in Ink

This recipe is based on Calamatara with Squid in its Own Ink from the Magic of Tinned Fish Cookbook. We whipped up this dish for lunch one day but instead of calamatara we used, Bombardoni Rigati, a large tube shaped pasta from southern Italy, which worked really well at absorbing the flavour of the squid ink.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

170g of Bombardoni Rigati

1 tin of Bogar squid in its own ink

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup of white wine

1/4 tsp of chilli flakes (optional)

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 a lemon 

2 tablespoons chives, chopped 

salt 

Method:

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta while you get on with making the sauce.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and cook the garlic until soft. Add the chilli flakes (if using) and the white wine. Continue cooking until the sauce has reduced by half. Add the tinned squid and all the inky liquid to the pan.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta in the boiling salted water until cooked al dente. 

Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta's cooking liquid before draining the pasta, then add both the liquid and the pasta to the squid sauce. Continue cooking on medium high heat until the sauce is reduced again by about half.

Turn down the heat to low, add the butter and stir through until the sauce appears thick, shiny and the butter is melted through. Add a squeeze of lemon and garnish with the chopped chives before serving in two pasta bowls.

Enjoy!