Squid Ink Mini Vermicelli with Seared Calamari, Fresh Tomato, Lemon & Chilli
Squid or cuttlefish ink takes me to the Mediterranean and remind me of travels to Italy and Spain. Most notably, the salty, deeply flavoured cuttlefish risotto I made in Venice under the expert guidance of Enrica Rocca, similar versions of which are easily available at Venetian restaurants, jet-black paellas in Spain and the multitude of inky-as-night pastas that feature invitingly.
I am always on the look-out for unusual or indigenous food items when we explore – sometimes repeat visits yield new items afresh each time.
I picked up a box of fine short squid ink vermicelli in Andorra three weeks ago, and with careful packing it made the journey more or less unscathed. I don’t think it’s typically Catalan, but rather a combination of a tradition of cooking with the natural ink found in squid and cuttlefish and modern and newly available pasta shapes. I could of course, be very wrong. I have also brought back squid ink fettuccine and tagliatelle in the past.
I’ve combined the short vermicelli strands here simply in a dish I made a day after we returned from Europe, with seared calamari, fresh tomato, lemon zest and olive oil. A simple combination of flavours and ingredients that compliment each other.
Ingredients
Serves 2
125 ml squid ink pasta, cooked
250 ml small calamari tubes, sliced, plus heads
2 ripe medium sized roma or other tomatoes, cut in 1/8ths
1 small lemon, zested
1 red chilli, chopped
extra virgin olive oil and salt, to taste.
Method
Wash the calamari well, especially the inside of the the tubes, remove the fins if necessary and slice into 1.5 cm pieces. Dry the slices and the heads very well. This may take a bit of kitchen paper towel – the calamari won’t sear and brown if you don’t so this.
In a pan on high heat, add about two tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the calamari in batches, careful not to crowd the pan (a la Julia!)
After 30 – 40 seconds, turn. You want both sides browned, in as little time as possible or else the calamari will become leathery and horrible. Add chillis to the pan a few seconds before the calamari si done. Remove, cover and set aside.
In a serving bowl or two individual bowls, portion out the pasta. Divide the calamari, tomatoes and zest bewteen the two.
Add a generous glug of olive oil and salt to taste, and toss well. I aslo added a large squeeze of lemon juice and ate this while the calamari was still hot from the pan.
Serve cold on a warm day as a side or main- equally delicious.
A really easy weekday dinner that looks alluring and brings back the magic of Spain and Italy.
I love it that you use such unique ingredients in your cooking. Makes me want to expand more with my cooking. This dish looks like something I should try out.
Hello. One of the best parts of travel is bringing back an ingredient or two and reliving those memories through the food you make at home.
This is my favourite kind of pasta dish-bright, fishy & full of flavour! I recently made bread with squid ink which was lots of fun but pasta is still my favourite way to eat it.
A bread? How wonderfully creative is that! Bet it tasted good too.
After a eh.. Fairly scary incident with cleaning squid I’m not really fond of them. Lol. I’ve cleaned many of them since but I’m just not a big fan of the texture. Paired with these vermicelli it looks pretty awesome though!
Cleaning squid…all in day’s work hehe. Love calamri, it’s so common here. Hope you’re well Simone.
Where can I buy squid ink pasta in cape town?
Hello there. I would try Giovannis and believe some Pick n Pays keep it in their gourmet section. Also you could buy actual squid ink in sachets from Willoughby’s & Co at the WF and use that with linguine or in risotto. Good luck!