Love it or hate it. But I think squid ink pasta rocks! This is a pretty powerful pasta recipe. That squid flavor really hits your palate like mad. I’m absolutely fond of it but even I wouldn’t eat loads of it.
I’m telling you, this is some powerful stuff right there.
Hang on.
It is not the fancy black spaghetti that contains squid ink. But the pasta sauce is pure squid ink!
You might have seen that type of black pasta before.
Pasta Nero
It doesn’t only contain flour and eggs but also squid ink the package says. No, for my recipe below I used just regular spaghetti and coated it in a rich and tacky squid ink pasta sauce.
And it’s heavy stuff!
You really have to like it. It’s quite a powerful ingredient. You can also find squid ink in other dishes. In paella for instance: black baked rice with seafood top instead of saffron, chicken and chorizo.
Bomba
I have come across a few dishes in Barcelona that had a squid ink sauce, a very thick paste that looks more like black mayonnaise. You will get it often when you order a bomba, a typical fish or seafood croquette.
The best one we tasted was at Vivant, in Barcelona.
Their bomba and squid dipping sauce rocks!
Do try it. Besides all of their other dishes are also delicious. We’ve been there 4 times now and we have never been let down. Excellent Spanish food with top notch fresh ingredients and a modern twist for a reasonable price.
Best Squid Ink Pasta Sauce
I found the squid ink in the freezer department of my supermarket.
This was sold in 8 separate portions. Add as much as you like. You can also use fresh ink but in that case I think you better buy one large squid instead of baby squid. I didn’t find a lot of ink in the ones that I used. Larger squid are more likely to hold enough ink for this recipe.
The hubs is not crazy about squid ink.
So I made him another version of a squid pasta. It looked like a kind of calamari puttanesca with fresh squid, tomatoes, basil and olives.
And he loved it.
Enjoy!
Best Squid Ink Pasta Sauce Spaghetti Recipe
Love it or hate it. But I think squid ink pasta rocks! This is a pretty powerful pasta recipe. That squid flavor really hits your palate like mad.
- 9 oz dry spaghetti (250 g)
- 9 oz fresh baby squid (250 g)
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 4 portions squid ink (about 4 tbsp)
- a handful fresh basil chopped
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- First of all: fill a large and high pan with water, season with a good dash of salt and bring this to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti until tender and then drain.
- Clean the baby squid. Gently pull the head and tentacles out of the body. Then chop off the head right under the eyes of the squid so the tentacles are still in one piece. Discard the part with the eyes and slimy bits still attached.
- Now stick your fingers inside the body and pull out as much of the slimy guts as you can. Also remove the quill, the kind of plastic spine that is inside. Then rinse the body under cold running tap water and let it drain a little. Slice the squid body into little rings.
- Set the cleaned squid aside until needed later. Peel the garlic cloves and mash them finely under the blade of your knife. Pour the olive oil in a medium saucepan and add the garlic mash.
- Place the pan over medium heat and gently fry the garlic for 2 minutes without browning or burning. Then add the cleaned squid to the pan.
- Stir well and cook for 2 minutes until the squid turns pink. Season with a tiny pinch of salt (the squid ink will also be salty so don’t exaggerate) and the spicy paprika powder.
- Now add the squid ink to the pan (you can keep some of the cooked pink squid aside for garnish if you like).
- Stir well until the ink is creamy and coats the cooked squid.
- Add the cooked and drained spaghetti to the ink sauce.
- Stir well. The spaghetti should be entirely black. Check the seasoning and add extra salt or paprika powder to taste if necessary. Divide the spaghetti over deep plates. Garnish with the freshly chopped basil and the cooked squid if you kept any aside earlier on. Serve hot.
