Try out my delicious fresh squid spaghetti recipe with fresh tomatoes, black olives and fresh basil… This is a splendid mediterranean pasta dish with pure and sunny flavors!
Squid!
Do you like squid?
Have you ever cooked with squid at home before?
Here in Spain squid is everywhere.
Fresh Squid
You can find heaps of these creatures in every supermarket.
And they come in all sizes, from the tiny baby squid to the large ugly looking monsters. Those large ones often are kind of grey in color, just because their ink sack inside might be torn.
The larger squid are also used to make those battered and fried calamari rings.
You are definitely familiar with those too.
Oh well and that also brings me to my favorite part of the squid really: the squid ink!
I prepared this squid spaghetti below for the hubs.
Squid Ink
I was making a squid ink spaghetti.
But because he is not very fond of that ink, I cooked him something else. And I only used the squid without the ink. So I went for a tomato pasta sauce with squid in it. He likes chunky pasta sauces and therefore I quickly sautéed a handful of chopped onion and diced tomato.
Right in the end I added the sliced squid and just let it warm through. In the end the squid still had a some bite to it, and wasn’t overcooked or rubbery.
Also this baby squid is so thin, it really does not need a lot of cooking.
Well all I can say is that the hubs fell hard for this squid pasta!
Easy Mediterranean Squid Spaghetti
Are you in for a little squid experiment?
Here is how to clean baby squid with step by step pictures.
It really is very easy to do, believe me!
And fun as well.
However do not expect to find a lot of squid ink in those little buggers. Their ink sack is way too tiny. In Spain you can find small bags of squid in the freezer section, where the frozen fish and seafood is.
Enjoy!
Easy Mediterranean Squid Spaghetti Recipe
My delicious fresh squid spaghetti recipe with fresh tomatoes, black olives and basil... This is a splendid mediterranean pasta dish!
- 9 oz dry spaghetti (250 g)
- 9 oz fresh baby squid (250 g)
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- ½ red onion chopped
- 1 large fresh tomato chopped
- a handful black olives sliced
- a handful fresh basil chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- pepper
- salt
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First of all: place a large pan of salted water over high heat until boiling. Then add the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti until tender and then drain it.
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Clean the baby squid. Gently pull the head and tentacles out of the body. Then chop off the head right under the eyes so that the tentacles are still in one piece. Discard the part with the eyes and slimy bits still attached.
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Then 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.
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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 and the freshly chopped red onion.
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Place the pan over medium heat and gently cook the garlic and onion for 2 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, the chopped tomato and the sliced black olives. Season with a little pepper.
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Stir again. Now add the cleaned and sliced squid to the tomato sauce.
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Cook for another 2 minutes. Add the freshly chopped basil (keep some aside for garnish if you like).
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Stir well and check the seasoning. Add extra salt or pepper to taste if necessary. Add the cooked and drained spaghetti. Stir well so the tomato squid sauce coats the spaghetti entirely.
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Divide the pasta over warm deep plates. Garnish with extra chopped basil. Serve immediately.
