Linguine ai Calamari
Linguine with squid
Squid, cut small, stewed gently with garlic, white wine, and parsley until tender, tossed through linguine at the end. Simple and unassuming — one I make now and then, and it reminds me a little of a vongole, cooked the same patient way.
This is a quieter dish than most of the seafood pastas on this blog — no shellfish shells to work around, no elaborate scoglio assembly, just squid cut into small pieces and cooked slowly, covered, the way you would cook vongole: garlic in oil, a splash of wine, the lid on, a little patience while the squid gives up its liquid and then reabsorbs it as it tenderizes. It is one of the simpler seafood pastas to make on a weeknight, since squid is forgiving of a slightly longer or shorter cooking time than clams are.
The trick with squid, here as everywhere, is time: either a very short sear of a couple of minutes, or a long, slow stew of twenty minutes or more, with almost nothing good happening in between. This recipe takes the slow route, covered and gently stewed until genuinely tender, which suits a weeknight better than watching a hot pan closely for the two-minute window of the quick method.
Covered, gently stewed, patient — the same instinct as cooking clams, just with squid standing in. A simple pasta that rewards not rushing it.
The recipe
For six.
Linguine ai Calamari — a simple Neapolitan seafood pasta. Click to enlarge.
1.2 kg, fresh or frozenSquid
2 clovesGarlic
1½ dlWhite wine, dry
To tasteFresh parsley, chopped
To tasteSalt and black pepper
500 gLinguine or spaghetti
1
Clean the squid and cut it into roughly 1 cm cubes or rings.
2
Warm the olive oil with the garlic in a wide pan. Once the garlic turns golden, add the squid, the wine, black pepper, and part of the parsley.
3
Cover and let it stew gently, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if it seems to be drying out. Cook until the squid is tender — usually 20–25 minutes depending on size.
4
Once tender, add the rest of the parsley and turn off the heat.
5
Cook the linguine in plenty of salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with part of the squid and sauce in a wide pan for a minute over the heat. Serve with the remaining squid and sauce spooned on top, or bring a small dish of the extra sauce to the table.
Related pantry pastas
Spaghetti alle vongole
The same patient, covered-pan technique, with clams instead of squid. See
the full recipe.
Linguine capperi, olive e acciughe
Another simple pantry-and-pan pasta from the same everyday rotation. See
the full recipe.
Buon appetito.
