We are finally beginning to see some winter thaw and spring-like weather here. It only just started this past weekend. Although the night time and early morning temperatures are still below freezing, the day time temperatures are now above freezing. The sun is out and the snow piles are getting smaller. Hopefully they will all disappear soon.
Since we have been having a lot of stews and slow cooker dishes in the past weeks, we were in the mood for some pasta with the slightly “warmer” weather. Not too long ago, I did mention that Ro-Ri San had purchased a variety of pasta home from his recent trip to Rome. So far, I have only used one pack of the pasta for this Garganelli alla Arrabiatta dish. It is now time to use another pack for today’s recipe.
This Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia or squid ink spaghetti was the very first one Ro-Ri San purchased. He made a really good choice as the pasta was extruded with the traditional bronze dies. These dies give the pasta a rough textured surface that appears whitish and allows the sauce to “cling” to the pasta when cooked. Most other kinds of pasta are extruded using teflon and nylon dies, giving them a smooth sheen.
I have been wanting to replicate the dish that Ro-Ri San had in Rome as it looked so delicious. I figured the squid ink spaghetti would combine well with mussels. Initially, I was a little unsure about the color as I did not want the mussels to be camouflaged in the mix. After boiling the spaghetti, thankfully the color did turn a lighter shade and contrasted nicely with the mussels. Best of all was its wonderful texture – tender yet firm. It held the sauce beautifully, making it very tasty. I was really impressed!
This recipe for Squid Ink Spaghetti with Mussels was inspired by Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Mussels (Spaghetti con le Cozze) at epicurious.com. I added some grape tomatoes for a pop of color.
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Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Look really delicious!
Thanks Pola!
Hi Biren 🙂
This is a great alternative way to eat mussels. I once went to a black & white themed dinner and on the menu were risotto and potatoe purée blackened with squid ink. It put me off at first but tasted very nice and it was fun as it blackens the tongue for a few minutes has everyone giggling.
I’m glad to see you didn’t suggest sprinkling parmeson here as Italiens tell me its never sprinkled on seafood dishes.
Cheers Biren!
Thankfully this dried squid ink pasta does not blacken one’s tongue. It has a nice greyish color and a subtle flavor. Yes, I have heard that cheese is not used with seafood dishes. I guess there are always exception to the rule as in shrimp pizza etc. 🙂
Oh, seafood pasta my favourite!
I love seafood pasta too! 🙂
That squid ink pasta is so cool!! What a fabulous dish… especially to entertain with. 🙂
Thanks Ramona! 🙂
see- there you go again- teaching me something new! I have never heard of squid ink noodles before but now I am intrigued and hopefully I can find them in a store around here
They gourmet stores do sometimes carry squid ink pasta. I have found quite a few interesting varieties. 🙂
It’s funny that they sell the pasta with the squid already in it! I did not know that this product existed!
We like to use squid ink in Spanish cooking too. It’s fairly typical to cook squid in its ink (you can even buy it canned that way). Another typical dish (from Valencia) is arròs negre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arr%C3%B2s_negre