Paccheri with calamari and potatoes
A tasty Neapolitan seafood pasta dish full of Mediterranean flavour.
Servings: 4
Calories: 624kcal
Ingredients
- 320 g paccheri you can also use calamarata pasta
- 3-4 small calamari (about 1 per person depending on the size)
- 3 potatoes medium sized (I used new potatoes)
- 10-12 cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- ½ fresh peperoncino (Italian red chili pepper) or dried peperoncino flakes
- 1 glass white wine
- 1 handful fresh parsley chopped
- 1 lemon optional
- 3-4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt for pasta and to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
Preparation
- Firstly, 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. Secondly, peel and chop the garlic. Wash the tomatoes and cut them in half. Chop the parsley. Finally, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes.
Cooking instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Cook until they are al dente (about 5-10 minutes) Once they are ready, remove with a slotted spoon. Keep the water.
- Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan or skillet and add the par-boiled potatoes and fry for a few minutes until they start to turn slightly golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan used for browning potatoes, fry the chopped garlic for a minute and then add the calamari cut into rings. Cook the calamari for 5 minutes, turning frequently until the pieces start to turn a more solid white colour. Add the cherry tomatoes and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and turn up the heat until the alcohol evaporates. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet in the water you cooked the potatoes. You need to bring the water back to the boil before adding the pasta.
- While the pasta is cooking, add the potatoes, a sprinkling of parsley and some peperoncino to the calamari. Mix everything together well.
- Once the pasta is ready, save some of the cooking water and drain.
- Add some of the pasta cooking water to the calamari and potato sauce and mix again. Cook for another minute.
- Add the pasta to the sauce with a little more pasta cooking water if it seems dry, Mix everything well together and serve immediately with another sprinkling of parsley and some grated lemon zest if required.
Notes
Both paccheri and calamarata pasta are traditional with calamari in Southern Italy. However, if you can't find this pasta you can use other tube pasta. I would recommend the largest size possible. For example giant penne (pennoni)
This recipe can be made without the past. The combination of calamari and potato makes a wonderful warm salad.
Nutrition
Calories: 624kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 210mg | Sodium: 65mg | Potassium: 1234mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 331IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 4mg