Pasta with Calamari and Tomatoes
Whether you're a calamari enthusiast or trying it for the first time, this Italian calamari pasta is sure to impress! It only uses a few simple ingredients yet creates such a rich and flavorful dish. It takes just 40 minutes to prepare, making it an excellent choice for weeknight dinners and date nights.
- 4-5 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 14.1 oz Paccheri (or spaghetti)
- 1.1 lbs Fresh baby calamari (cleaned and cut into rings and small pieces)
- 1.1 lbs Cherry tomatoes
- 5 cloves Garlic ((4 minced and 1 whole clove))
- ½ Fresh peperoncino (or 1 tsp of peperoncino flakes)
- ½ glass Dry white wine (2.5floz)
- 2 handfuls Fresh parsley
- Ground black pepper
- Sea salt
- Prepare the ingredients. Wash the tomatoes, peel and chop the garlic (keep one clove whole), chop the fresh chilli pepper (remove seeds for less spice). Wash and chop the parsley.
- If they are fresh, clean the calamari by removing the head, skin, cartilage and entrails. Wash well and cut the body into rings and the tentacles into small pieces. Frozen calamari only need to be cut into pieces.
- Place a large pot of water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a large frying pan or skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic (chopped and whole) and peperoncino (or chili flakes). Sauté until the garlic starts to soften.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to soften.
- Mix in the calamari and pour in two-thirds of the white wine and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the calamari is cooked. Make sure to stir the calamari frequently to prevent it from overcooking.
- While the sauce is cooking, add salt to the large pot of water, then bring it back to a boil before adding your pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente in the boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Before draining, reserve one cup of pasta water.
- Remove the whole garlic clove. Add parsley and the rest of the wine to the sauce. Stir and cook for another minute.
- Mix in the pasta with the calamari sauce. If the pasta sauce looks dry, mix in a splash of pasta water.
- Taste and season accordingly with salt and serve.
History
Calamari is the Italian word for squid, specifically the European squid (Loligo vulgaris). The word comes from the Latin ‘calamarium’, meaning inkpot! However, many people in English speaking countries use the name calamari when describing squid as a food.
Calamari is eaten in many countries, but most people think of it as a Mediterranean ingredient. This is not surprising because many well-known calamari recipes come from the countries around the Med. For example, fried calamari rings are a popular dish here in Italy, but also in Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Croatia, Slovenia, and Egypt.
Here in Italy, calamari has been eaten for centuries, certainly since the time of Ancient Rome. So, as you can imagine, there are many ways that Italians prepare their squid. They grill it, stuff it, stew it, bake it and, of course, serve it with pasta as in this pasta with calamari and tomatoes recipe.
Most calamari pasta recipes originate in the Southern regions of Sicily, Campania, Calabria and Puglia. In general, they are normally quite similar and contain typical Mediterranean ingredients such as garlic, tomatoes, peperoncino and white wine.
However, some also include tomato passata or polpa, which we don’t use for this recipe because the sauce becomes too liquid. Others add olives and there are some recipes ‘al bianco’, meaning white, which don’t have tomatoes.
My Sicilian hubby's pasta with calamari and tomatoes
This recipe is my Sicilian husband’s and he's the one to usually cook it. (so great to have a hubby that cooks!) It’s actually one of the simplest I have come across and since I’ve eaten it on numerous occasions, I can tell you it’s absolutely divine.
The main difference between this recipe and other typical Southern Italian calamari pasta recipes, such as La Calamarata, is in the cooking method. Most recipes say to add the calamari before the tomatoes.
My hubby cooks the tomatoes first until they start to soften and turn the olive oil reddish. I think this is why the calamari takes on a reddish color and the dish is so flavorsome. He also only uses fresh baby or very small calamari and lots and lots of parsley and garlic.
