This spaghetti with escarole cream and calamari recipe was created somewhat by accident on a Sunday when I was preparing Neapolitan-style escarole in a pan and, at the same time, a seafood puttanesca with calamari cooking in a sauce with olives, capers, and tomato pulp.
Since I was recently advised against eating all acidic foods that might irritate the stomach, like tomatoes, I thought of replacing them with an escarole cream to season a dish of spaghetti with calamari.
The result was surprisingly excellent, so much so that I had to make it again to satisfy the rest of the family who had only been able to taste the dish.
The preparation is very simple and relatively quick because the sauce with calamari, olives, and capers is made in just a few minutes while the spaghetti cooks.
A little longer is the preparation of the escarole cream, which must first be cleaned, washed, and blanched before being blended with the pine nuts, garlic, oil, and salt using a hand blender.
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then…let’s cook and eat!!
See also
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 head smooth escarole
- 2 cloves garlic
- 0.7 oz pine nuts
- 3.5 oz black olives (from Gaeta)
- 1 tbsp capers in salt (desalted)
- 1 fresh chili pepper
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- Half glass white wine
- 2 calamari (large)
- to taste salt
- 11.3 oz spaghetti
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Mezzaluna
- 1 Hand Blender
Steps
To prepare spaghetti with escarole cream and calamari, first, focus on cleaning the escarole by removing the outer leaves, then thoroughly wash the leaves under running water.
Blanch the escarole until wilted, then transfer it to a bowl with ice water to maintain a bright green color.
Once cooled, drain it well and transfer it to the beaker of the hand blender along with half a clove of garlic, the pine nuts, a drizzle of oil, and salt. Blend until you get a smooth cream. Set it aside and move on to the calamari.
Perform this operation under running water and first detach the head of the calamari from the mantle, then eviscerate the calamari and remove the transparent cartilage. Also, peel off the skin and detach the fins, which you will use for the preparation. With a knife, cut the calamari into half-inch thick rings. Then take the head, remove the eyes, and remove the tooth from the center of the tentacles. You can simply divide these into more tufts. Once rinsed well, dry the calamari with paper towels.
Take the Gaeta black olives, remove the pits, and rinse the capers to remove the preservation salt. On a cutting board, using a mezzaluna or a knife, mince the olives and capers.
At this point, bring the water for the spaghetti to a boil, and in the meantime, prepare the sauce.
In a pan, sauté a clove of garlic and a sliced fresh chili pepper, then add the calamari and brown them for a couple of minutes in the hot oil. Then deglaze with the white wine. Once the alcohol part of the wine has evaporated, add the chopped olives and capers to the pan and let everything flavor for another couple of minutes. Do not overcook the calamari to avoid them becoming rubbery.
When the spaghetti is cooked (al dente), transfer it to the pan with the calamari along with the escarole cream. If necessary, add a bit of cooking water and toss the spaghetti until the sauce is evenly distributed.
Plate the spaghetti by placing a bit more escarole cream at the bottom of the dish 😉.
