Calamarata: The Classic Italian Recipe

Method9 steps · about 45 min

1. 1

   Step 1: Use 500 g cleaned raw calamari with entrails, cartilage, beak and eyes removed. Pat dry and cut the tubes into rings about 3 cm wide. Trim very long tentacles, keeping the smaller tufts whole; clean hands and tools after handling raw seafood.

   Uses 500 g cleaned raw calamari, cut into rings in step 1

2. 2

   Step 2: Peel both garlic cloves (2). Heat all six tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the garlic for about two minutes until fragrant, without burning it.

   Warm garlic in olive oil · 2 minUses 2 garlic cloves, peeled in step 2 · 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

   
3. 3

   Step 3: Add all the prepared calamari to the garlic-oil pan and stir over high heat for about two minutes.

   Initial calamari sear · 2 minUses All garlic and cooking oil · All prepared calamari

4. 4

   Step 4: Pour all 100 ml white wine into the calamari pan and let it bubble until the sharp alcoholic aroma fades. Reduce the heat and cook for about five minutes. Meanwhile bring a separate large pot of water, lightly seasoned with the pasta-water salt, to a boil.

   Uses All calamari and its pan base · 100 ml dry white wine (- ~½ cup) · Water for boiling the pasta, as needed · Salt to lightly season the pasta water, to taste

   
5. 5

   Step 5: Wash and quarter all the cherry tomatoes (500 g). Add them to the calamari pan with sauce salt to taste. Cook for another ten minutes until the tomatoes form a sauce and the squid is fully cooked and opaque, at least 63°C / 145°F. Keep the sauce fluid enough to finish the pasta in it.

   Cook calamari and cherry-tomato sauce · 10 minUses All calamari and its sauce base · 500 g cherry tomatoes (- 1.1 pound) · Salt for the calamari-tomato sauce, to taste

   
6. 6

   Step 6: Add all the dry calamarata to the boiling water. Cook for about eight minutes as a guide, or until still noticeably firmer than the pack’s final al dente endpoint: it will finish in the sauce. Reserve some of this cooking water, then drain the pasta. Adjust the first stage to the pack’s total time rather than overcooking it.

   Initial pasta boil: source 8-minute guide, check pack · 8 minUses The prepared pasta-water pot · 350 g dry calamarata pasta; follow pack total cooking time

   
7. 7

   Step 7: Transfer all the drained pasta directly into the calamari-tomato pan. Cook gently for about five minutes until al dente, checking the pack’s total time; dry calamarata commonly needs twelve to fifteen minutes across both stages.

   Finish pasta in the calamari sauce · 5 minUses All drained pasta; cooking water held separately · All finished squid sauce

   
8. 8

   Step 8: Toss the finished pasta and sauce together, adding a little of the reserved cooking water only if needed to loosen the sauce and coat the pasta evenly.

   Uses All pasta and sauce · A little of the reserved cooking water only if needed

9. 9

   Step 9: Wash and coarsely chop fresh parsley from the bunch. Sprinkle as much as desired over the finished pasta and serve immediately as four portions.

   Uses All pasta and sauce · Fresh parsley from the bunch, chopped to finish