Spaghetti with squids and escarole
How delicious is this dish, you won’t even notice you’re on a diet.
Spaghetti with squids and escarole is a light first course complete with all nutrients.
I used squid cut thin and long like spaghetti, flavored with Mediterranean aromas, the brined olives that I make at home, the capers from Panarea that I personally collect, and the escarole from my garden.
From the squids, I only took the body part without the tentacles, which you can use for other recipes like:
- Cost: Affordable
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring, Summer
- Energy 391.35 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 27.62 (g) of which sugars 3.89 (g)
- Proteins 24.58 (g)
- Fat 14.25 (g) of which saturated 2.93 (g)of which unsaturated 1.63 (g)
- Fibers 3.27 (g)
- Sodium 725.95 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 1.32 lbs squids (or calamari, net weight, without tentacles)
- 1.76 oz Tropea red onion
- 1 tbsp salted capers (desalted)
- 2.11 oz green brined olives
- 0.25 cup white wine
- 10.58 oz escarole (endive) (curly)
- 1.41 oz extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 10.58 oz spaghetti (No 7)
Tools
What we need
- 1 Pan
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Colander
Steps
To make
We must start by cleaning the squids, which should be medium-sized.
Remove the head and save the tentacles for another recipe.You can choose to remove the skin or leave it.
In Sicily, we usually leave it because it gives more flavor.
Once the squids are washed, remove the tail part and set it aside along with the tentacles, then open the squid’s body like a book.
Wash the whole part well, and then with a sharp knife cut into “spaghetti”
Wash the endive or escarole as we call it in the south several times, and let it drain.
Now, soak the capers in a cup of water to desalt, and also the olives.
You can decide whether to leave the olives whole or pit them, as you prefer.
Peel the onion, chop it with a knife and transfer it to a pan with hot extra virgin olive oil, along with the well-drained capers and olives. Sauté for about 3 minutes,
then add the squid spaghetti and let them sauté.
You will see that they will gradually turn pinkish and curl up a little.
After at least 4 or 5 minutes over high heat, and stirring, you can deglaze with white wine.
Let all the alcohol from the wine evaporate and add the escarole.
Cover with a lid and stew for at least another 5 minutes.
If necessary, you can add a little water.
In the meantime, put the water for the pasta on the stove, and as soon as it boils add spaghetti and a little salt.
When the pasta is 3/4 cooked, use tongs to transfer the spaghetti to the pan with the squid spaghetti and continue cooking the pasta, adding a ladle of pasta cooking water if needed.
With this type of cooking, the pasta will release its starches, forming a creamy sauce.
At the end of cooking, you can adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, which we hadn’t added to the sauté at the beginning due to the saltiness of the capers and olives.Serve the Spaghetti with Squids and Escarole hot.
Spaghetti with Squids and Escarole. The sauce for this pasta can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days, and if the squids were not previously defrosted, you can also freeze the sauce for up to 3 months.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Spaghetti with Squids and Escarole
Can I substitute the squids and with what?
With calamari
