Pasta with Calamari and Tomatoes
This calamari pasta 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.
Servings: 4
Calories: 687kcal
Ingredients
- 4-5 tablespoon 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 teaspoon of peperoncino flakes
- ½ glass Dry white wine (2.5floz)
- 2 handfuls Fresh parsley
- Ground black pepper
- Sea salt
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
- If you can’t find fresh baby or small calamari, you can use frozen; but not just calamari rings, use whole calamari. Cooking times may change with frozen calamari but the important thing is not to cook the calamari too long, otherwise they will become rubbery.
- Cooking times differ with fresh or dried pasta. Check the packet instructions.
- Italians don't use grated cheese on seafood pasta dishes, so I haven't included it here.
Nutrition
Calories: 687kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 291mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 871mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 821IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 3mg