At the restaurant “La Patatina” in Venice, on the first night of our Venetian trip in March 2019, we couldn’t help but start with a risotto (the Venetians are notoriously very good at making risottos!) and the choice fell on a squid ink risotto, strictly creamed with fish broth and not with butter!
And even on our subsequent Veneto trip, in Chioggia, in May 2024, our first choice was a squid ink risotto, at the restaurant “Alberto Capo” (photo 2).
Fish broth for the squid ink risotto is already available in containers, but if you have some fish scraps (or if you get them from the fishmonger), the broth (fumet) will become much more flavorful, as will the risotto.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups Vialone Nano rice
- 1 1/3 lbs Cuttlefish (and their ink)
- 4 cups Fish broth
- 1 glass White wine
- 1 Onion
- 1 clove Garlic
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Salt and pepper
Preparation
Clean the cuttlefish by removing the eyes, skin, mouth, and insides, taking care to keep the ink sac intact. Rinse the cuttlefish under running water and cut them into strips.
Clean the onion, the garlic and finely chop the onion, put 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and add the chopped onion and the garlic cut in half.When the onion is golden, remove the garlic clove and add the cuttlefish strips and a bay leaf, deglaze with white wine, season with salt and pepper, add the squid ink and let it cook for 30 minutes.
After the cuttlefish have cooked for 30 minutes, add the rice and a couple of ladles of broth, let it cook, always adding broth when the rice requires it.Cook until done after about 20 minutes, and before serving, add the last ladle of broth off the heat to cream it.
Notes
Squid ink is the very dark brown, almost black liquid, also called ink, contained in a sac inside the cuttlefish but also in squids and generally in cephalopod mollusks.
It is the weapon with which the cuttlefish defends itself from predators by forcefully expelling it through the funnel: the cuttlefish hides inside this dark cloud and makes its escape.
Besides nullifying the prey’s sight, this ink is also believed to have the ability to temporarily impair the predators’ sense of smell, allowing the cuttlefish time to get away.
In the preparations where it is used, it not only adds color but also flavor and aroma.
And it is also the key to surely recognizing fresh cuttlefish (but also squid and octopus) from thawed ones, which is not always so easy.
And it is also the key to surely recognizing fresh cuttlefish (but also squid and octopus) from thawed ones, which is not always so easy.
The ink in fact, with freezing, becomes grainy and unusable for culinary purposes.
The ink in fact, with freezing, becomes grainy and unusable for culinary purposes.
