Italy on a plate

Passport & Plate - tagliatelle al nero di seppia con calamari

Italy | Wednesday, March 12, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
300g 00 Flour
3 eggs
5ml squid ink
1 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 baby red chillies (depending on degree of spiciness)
1 handful of basil leaves
1 tbs butter
3 tbs olive oil
300g baby squid, hoods cut into rings, tentacles left whole
1 zucchini in ribbons
20 cherry tomatoes quartered
150ml white wine
Salt & pepper
How to prepare this recipe
Make a heaped pile of flour on the bench, make a well in the centre, crack eggs into the well and add oil and squid ink. Mix the eggs with the oil and squid in until combined and then start adding in flour until a dough forms. Knead until smooth. Rest the dough for 20 minutes before rolling out and cutting into tagliatelle.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta and put a deep pan on med-high heat for your squid
Chop the garlic, chilli and basil together to form a paste or grind in mortar and pestle.
Sauté the paste in the butter and olive oil then add the squid and toss to coat.
Add the zucchini and 2/3rds of the tomatoes and the wine.
Cover with a lid and allow to simmer, while you boil your pasta, 2-3 minutes. Season sauce with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Put the pasta in the pan with your squid and toss to coat.Taste and check seasoning.Serve garnished with remaining cherry tomatoes, torn basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
The story behind this recipe
During Culinary School I competed in the Regional Culinary fare and won several classes which, added together, won me the title of Junior Chef of the year. One of the classes was Pasta and the dish I created was called Tagliatelle Nero con frutti di mare. Firstly I made my own squid ink infused pasta dough and to go with the pasta I cooked seared squid and prawns and scallops, I made garlic, white wine & cream reduction sauce, and garnished the dish with cherry tomatoes, parsley and basil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Summer last year I went backpacking and couch surfing with a few friends through Italy across to Slovenia and down through Croatia. In Slovenia, in a little coastal town called Izola we couch surfed at a family home, where the garden was overflowing with multitudes of tomatoes, zucchini that were flowering, eggplants, capsicum, cucumber, basil & parsley. The cupboards were loaded with bottles of the grandfather’s homemade olive oil and jars of olives from his own olive trees. We always offered to cook for our hosts wherever we stayed but this stay we didn’t just cook, we feasted! We made so many amazing things with the fruits of their gardens & squid from the local fishing boats. We washed it all down with glasses of local white wine and walked it off along the stunning coastline. So I have decided to merge my favourite components of those two meals into one which I hope will inspire both another win in my culinary career and invoke visions of real travel where you stay local & eat with the locals because food is a journey best shared.The main theme for my recipe is Squid, the squid ink pasta from my competition dish and the baby squid from the fish boats in Izola. I also want to include zucchini and tomatoes like the ones fresh out of the garden with such an amazing perfume and for the flavour base a paste of chilli, basil and garlic. Brought together with great drinking white wine and of course olive oil.