Tag: Venetian Cuisine

SQUID WITH BLACK INK SAUCE (Calamari al Nero)

Squid with Black Ink Sauce is one of those dishes that never fails to impress. With its glossy black sauce it looks dramatic, tastes intensely  flavourful and of the sea. But, despite its striking appearance, is surprisingly straightforward to prepare.

I recently prepared this dish for a friend’s first gathering. I sought a memorable, yet simple, dish that would feel generous and celebratory. It was the ideal choice.

Because I have included many photos and discussed the ingredients,  the process may look complicated. But it isn’t.

Calamari and Cuttle Fish, the differences

Calamari (squid) have long, streamlined bodies, ten tentacles (eight arms and two longer feeding tentacles) and tender, mildly sweet flesh. They cook quickly and are popular grilled, fried, stuffed or slowly braised.

Cuttlefish (seppie) are close relatives of squid but have broader, flatter bodies and firmer, sweeter flesh. They contain larger ink sacs than squid, making them the preferred choice for classic dishes such as seppie al nero, where the ink creates a rich, glossy black sauce.

Cuttle fish is more difficult to purchase, and in fact mostly impossible in the Queen Victoria market so I have used Calamari in this Recipe.

Introduction and background to squid or cuttlefish cooked in black ink

Over the years I have cooked calamari al nero many times, changing the recipe to suit the occasion. Because I know this dish well from both Trieste and Sicily, my version sits comfortably between the two traditions. It combines the rich black sauce of the northern Adriatic with the brighter flavours of southern Italy.

Calamari al nero, glossy and black and delicious!

Being winter in Melbourne, I served it with crisp baked polenta rather than pasta—a combination that always draws admiration before it is tasted. And of course polenta is northern Italian food.

A Dish Shared Across Italy

Squid or cuttlefish cooked in its own ink (calamari al nero or seppie al nero) is one of Italy’s most distinctive seafood dishes. It appears all along the Italian coastline, but each region prepares and serves it differently.

Veneto and Venice

Around Venice, seppie al nero is a classic. Cuttlefish are preferred because they have larger ink sacs. The cuttlefish is slowly braised with onion, garlic, white wine and just a little tomato until the ink produces a glossy, intensely flavoured sauce.

It is traditionally served with soft white polenta. . I used golden polenta and the contrast between the jet-black sauce and the golden polenta is as beautiful as it is delicious and perfectly balances the richness of the ink.

Trieste and Friuli Venezia Giulia

Across the northern Adriatic in Trieste and Friuli Venezia Giulia, the dish remains very much part of everyday cooking. In Italian it is called seppie in umido; in the Triestino dialect it becomes sepe in umido. It still appears regularly on the menus of traditional trattorie, especially in Trieste Vecchia, the city’s historic quarter.

Although Trieste has absorbed influences from Slovenia and the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, this dish remains unmistakably Adriatic.

Sicily

In Sicily the same dish takes on a different character. Squid is used more frequently than cuttlefish, and the sauce generally contains more tomato, fresh parsley, garlic or onion and white wine. The result is lighter, fresher and more aromatic, while the ink still provides its unmistakable depth of flavour.

Rather than polenta, Sicilians usually toss the sauce through spaghetti, sometimes serving the squid separately as a second course.

These regional differences reflect Italy’s extraordinary culinary diversity, but both result in a silky sauce with extraordinary depth and complexity.

Finding Squid Ink

Not everyone can buy squid or cuttlefish with the ink sacs intact. Most seafood is cleaned before sale and the ink is discarded.

Fortunately, nero di seppia (cuttlefish ink) is widely available from Italian delicatessens and specialist food stores. It is sold in small sachets, jars or tubes and is the same product used by many Italian cooks when fresh ink is unavailable, especially these days when the fish is mostly sold clean and cut. The ink has a long shelf life and delivers the same deep black colour and rich flavour.

If your fishmonger prepares whole squid or cuttlefish, ask whether they can save the ink sacs for you. They freeze well for several months. Simply thaw them, pierce the sac and stir the ink into the sauce towards the end of cooking.

Fresh ink has a slightly more delicate flavour, but good-quality packaged nero di seppia is an excellent substitute.

How to Clean Squid
  • Pull the head and tentacles from the body.
  • Remove the internal bone.
  • Peel away the skin and remove the fins.
  • Slit the body open.
  • Remove the innards, reserving the ink sac if present.
  • Remove the eyes and beak from the tentacles.
  • Rinse thoroughly and pat dry before slicing.
Cleaning and cutting the squid
For the polenta

Prepare your preferred polenta ahead of time so it can be baked just before serving. Information, instructions further down in this post.

Baked polenta with the compulsory crust

THE RECIPE

Squid with Black Ink Sauce (Calamari al Nero)

Ingredients

Serves 6–8

For the BRAISED squid
  • 2.5-3 kg small squid, cleaned and sliced
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 400 g tin of chopped or puréed tomatoes
  • 1-2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 cup finely chopped parsley
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 4–6 sachets squid ink (4 g each), or about 3 tablespoons nero di seppia paste
  • 1 cup fish stock or water
  • Pinch chilli flakes (optional, especially if cooked in Southern Italy)
  • Fresh chilli, finely sliced, to finish
  • You can add peas – I used frozen, 2 cups. adds taste, nutrition and visual appeal.
Final addition – the fresh chilli

I also deseeded a couple of long red chillies, cut them into thin strips and put them on top of the black glossy contents.

Method

  • Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan and gently soften the garlic.
  • Add the squid in batches so it sautés rather than steams. Cook for about 15 minutes.

  • Pour in the wine, add the tomatoes.
Adding a can of tomato puree to the squid
  • Add parsley (and cilli flakes if using). Cover and simmer gently for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Adding the parsley to the squid
  • Stir in the squid ink and cook for another 20 minutes or until the squid is tender.
Draining the squid from the main saucepan into another and evaporating the sauce
  • Remove the squid  from the main saucepan with a slotted spoon. Reduce the sauce until thick, glossy, black and intensely flavoured.
  • Stir in the tomato paste if further thickening is needed.
Adding a little tomato paste to thicken the sauce
  • Return the squid to the pan.
Returning the squid to the reduced sauce
  • Add the frozen peas and cook gently for a final 10 minutes.
  • Once cooked, add the strips of fresh chilli. on top.
The squid with the peas and thin strips of red chillies

ABOUT POLENTA and Baked Polenta

Types of Polenta:

Instant polenta is usually made from yellow cornmeal that has been pre-cooked and dried, so it cooks in 2–10 minutes instead of the traditional 30- 35 minutes. It produces a smooth, creamy consistency but generally lacks the depth of flavour and texture of traditionally cooked polenta. It is ideal for quick weeknight meals and can be served soft or left to set before grilling or frying.

Yellow polenta is the most common type in Italy and is made from yellow maize. When cooked slowly, it develops a rich corn flavour and can range from soft and creamy to firm enough to slice once cooled. It pairs well with hearty meat ragùs, sausages, mushrooms, game, braised dishes and robust cheeses. This is the type of polenta I stock at home.

White polenta is made from white corn and has a milder, more delicate flavour and a finer texture than yellow polenta. Traditionally associated with the Veneto and parts of Friuli Venezia Giulia, it is often served with seafood, salt cod (baccalà), cuttlefish in ink, or more delicate meat dishes. It is cooked in the same way as traditional yellow polenta but has a softer, silkier finish.

Cook the polenta according to the packet directions (traditional polenta generally takes about 30 minutes).

Pour into a well-oiled baking dish or heavy ovenproof pan. Smooth the surface, drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and bake in a moderate oven for about 30 minutes until lightly crisp on top.

Serve generous slices topped with the squid and plenty of black ink sauce.

Leftover polenta is excellent fried the following day in olive oil until it develops a crisp crosta—a golden crust that Italians treasure.

The polenta waiting to be baked. It can be cooked and poured into a baking tin well before you bake it

Golden baked polenta provides the perfect contrast to the silky black ink sauce.

The polenta and squid in black ink sauce on the table, ready to be served

Finished dish with peas and strips of fresh red chillies

Serving the squid dish on each plate with the polenta
Calamari al Nero served on crisp baked polenta—a meeting of Sicilian and northern Adriatic traditions.
The squid with black ink sauce and polenta was immensely enjoyed by all

SEPPIE IN UMIDO CON POLENTA (Cuttlefish or Squid With Black Ink And Polenta from Trieste)

MONTALBANO’S PASTA WITH BLACK INK SAUCE

Polenta and its magic

NDUJA with SQUID, very simple

CALAMARETTI IN TEGAME; in Sicilian it is CALAMARICCHI ’N’TIANU (Small calamari braised with tomatoes and potatoes)

MONTALBANO’S FAVOURITE DISHES

RICOTTA RAVIOLI and STONE GROUND FLOUR

PUNTARELLE Cooked with Tomatoes, Garlic and Anchovies

I ate Puntarelle cooked with tomatoes, garlic and anchovies as a side dish several years ago in Venice. This is the photo below:

Cooked puntarelle as presented in a restaurant in Venice

A Venetian inspiration for a simple pasta sauce or contorno

Venice Cannaregio, a view from our accomodation

Puntarelle are one of my favourite Italian vegetables, and because I now can find them in a stall at Queen Victoria Market I buy them. Although they are best known in the classic Roman salad of finely sliced shoots dressed with anchovy, garlic and olive oil, puntarelle can also be cooked to make an excellent contorno or a delicious pasta sauce.

One of a number of puntarelle salads I have made recently

A memory from Cannaregio, Venice

This dish is inspired by a meal I enjoyed in Cannaregio, one of Venice’s most authentic neighbourhoods, during my visit to the Venice Biennale in 2019. Away from the busiest tourist routes, Cannaregio still retains the atmosphere of a lived-in Venetian district, with local markets, small trattorie and canals that invite leisurely wandering.

 

‎⁨Guglie⁩/ Cannaregio ⁨Venezia⁩, ⁨Venice⁩

One of the dishes I ordered  at a restaurant was a simple plate of cooked puntarelle that was tossed with tomatoes and I remembered tasting, garlic and anchovies. It was uncomplicated cooking, but memorable because puntarelle were impossible to find in Melbourne or in Adwhere I have found many vegetables that I have had difficulties finding in Melbourne.

Another person ordered the salad. This had red radicchio in it as well as tomatoes and the usual anchovy and garlic dressing.

The puntarelle salad in Venice

The results were a simple recipe with remarkable flavour. Italian cooking often demonstrates that excellent dishes require very few ingredients. In this recipe, the slight bitterness of puntarelle, the sweetness of tomatoes and the savoury richness of anchovies create a balance that is both elegant and deeply satisfying. It is a reminder that some of the most memorable meals are also the simplest.

Puntarelle in Melbourne

Recently I have been making the most of the puntarelle available from Sophia’s stall at the Queen Victoria Market. Most often I prepare the traditional salad with an anchovy and garlic dressing and have made a few of these now.

The bunches sold in Melbourne, however, usually contain fewer leaves than those I have purchased in Italy. To prepare them as a cooked vegetable, I often combine the leaves with other bitter greens such as chicory, endive or cime di rapa, which have similar flavours and cooking qualities.

One of the bunches of puntarelle I have bought in Melbourne
This bunch of puntarelle bought in Melbourne has slightly more leaves

When I was staying in an Airbnb in Venice, I also bought a bunch of puntarelle and cooked both the spears and leaves together simply in extra virgin olive oil and garlic. The Venetian bunch was much leafier than those I generally find in Melbourne, making it particularly suitable for cooking.

This is the bunch of puntarelle I bought in Venice…. very leafy.

And recently I cooked puntarelle in much the same way that I cook cime di rapa for pasta or cicoria ripassata.

A simple contorno or pasta sauce

The version I remembered from Venice included tomatoes, so I decided to recreate it at home. Because good fresh baby tomatoes taste bland during winter, I used quality tinned baby tomatoes drained of their juice instead. Their sweetness balances the gentle bitterness of the puntarelle beautifully.

Drained tinned baby tomatoes

 As with all of the green leafy vegetables as I braise with garlic and anchovies and sometimes chilli, the anchovies melt into the olive oil, creating depth while the garlic provides the familiar flavour combination found throughout Italian regional cooking.

Braised/sauteed puntarelle are equally enjoyable served as a vegetable side dish or tossed through pasta. I prefer short pasta. Because the bunches I buy at the Queen Victoria Market  don’t contain many leaves and chicory, endive or cime di rapa are in season, I add more green leaves as well.

In this version I added cooked cime di rapa
RECIPE: PUNTARELLE Cooked with Tomatoes, Garlic and Anchovies
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch puntarelle, including shoots and leaves
  • Extra leaves of chicory, endive or cime di rapa if needed
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 6 anchovy fillets (or more) in oil cut into smaller pieces
  • 250-300 g baby tomatoes (fresh when in season or good-quality tinned baby tomatoes)
  • ground black pepper or pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
  • salt if you need it.
For serving: 3-4 people
  • 350g pasta
  • Grated pecorino or toasted breadcrumbs toasted in extra virgin olive oil if desired. (Pecorino is stronger tasting than parmesan cheese and probably better suited)
Method
  • Prepare the puntarelle

Wash the puntarelle thoroughly. Separate the shoots and leaves and cut into bite-sized pieces. If the quantity of leaves is limited, add some chopped chicory, endive or cime di rapa. (*On this occasion I added some already cooked cime di rapa that I had in my fridge.)

Traditionally, if serving the greens with the pasta, they are blanched in salted boiling water for five minutes or more (depending on quantity and texture). If using the mixture as a pasta sauce, reserve some of the cooking water. However, I prefer a modern method: sauté the greens directly without parboiling (once again depending on quantity and texture).

  • Make the sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.

Add the anchovies and stir until they dissolve into the oil. Add the garlic until fragrant but not coloured.

Stir in the green leaves, toss around in the pan and when they wilt, add about a tablespoon of water, put on the lid and soften further. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan, add the puntarelle spears and cook for a few minutes until softened but still vibrant. (**I added the cooked left over cime di rapa after I cooked the puntarelle and tomatoes).

Add the tomatoes and cook for several minutes until they soften and release their juices. Season with black pepper and chilli flakes if using.

I added the cooked left over cime di rapa after I cooked the puntarelle and tomatoes

Serve as a contorno – grilled fish or meat, roasted meats (nothing juicy).

To serve with pasta
  • Cook the pasta until al dente.
  • Transfer it directly to the pan with the puntarelle mixture, adding a little reserved pasta cooking water if necessary to create a silky sauce. Toss well and serve  plain or with grated pecorino or toasted breadcrumbs, according to your preference.

Puntarelle alla Romana and Cicoria Ripassata

CICORIA and Puntarelle (Chicory)