Tagliolini al Nero di Seppia con Vongole e Fiori di Zucca
Squid Ink Tagliolini with Pippies & Zucchini Flowers
Great fish markets are like lolly shops for Matteo, and we always buy more than we planned!
The day he made this pasta dish he bought enough produce to make:
– Scampi, prepared similar to sashimi, butterflied and served with lemon zest, EVOO & Sale di Cervia
– Anchovies, crumbed & fried
– Squid Ink Tagliolini with Pippies
– Poached sting ray wing salad with steamed potato, cherry tomatoes, celery & parsley
– Calamari with fresh figs & rocket
– Sea Bass risotto with wild herbs
Needless to say it was a big day spent in the kitchen and a wonderful afternoon of eating!
Ingredients for 4 serves:
400g Squid Ink Tagliolini
1Kg Pippies
Garlic 2 cloves
Fresh Thyme or Marjoram 2 sprigs
8 Zucchini Flowers (clean and cut in thin strips)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Black Pepper
Parsley, finely chopped
Preparation:
First step is “blanching” the pippies. In a large saucepan pour water (just to cover the bottom); add garlic, herbs, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the pippies. Turn the burner on and cover with the lid; as soon as the pippies start opening, remove them from the pot into a tray to cool down.
If your saucepan/pot is not big enough for a whole kg of pippies, you can do this in smaller batches (using the same liquid).
As soon as you can handle them, start removing the pippies from the shell. Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve to remove any sand from the pippies and reserve on the side.
Bring 5 litres of water to the boil (with 40 to 45g of salt in it); in another saucepan (I would use a 30/32 cm wide), bring the reserved liquid from the pippies to the boil.
Cook the tagliolini in the salted boiling water (if you are using fresh pasta, it will take a couple of minutes only; in case of bought pasta, follow the cooking instructions).
Strain them “al dente”, let’s say 30/40 seconds before they are cooked, and toss them in the boiling liquid from the pippies, making sure you stir constantly to cook to finish cooking the pasta.
Add the pippies and zucchini flowers, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Stir through the pasta. At this point if you need more liquid to finish cooking the pasta, use some of the pasta cooking water.
Now you have to make sure that the pasta is cooked (the way that you like it) and the sauce is “creamy” and not too thin; you can find this out using a wooden spoon: if you can draw a line in the bottom of the pan, the sauce is perfect!
Finish with parsley and serve.
Buon appetito!
