Last week, I taught my advanced culinary students to clean fresh Monterey Bay squid and how to cook clams. At the same time, we made homemade linguini. We tinted one of the batches with squid ink, which made it turn a lovely black color. To bring all the ingredients together, we created a black and white pasta dish with fresh garlic, white wine, calamari, clams, fresh Roma tomatoes and kalamata olives. We all agreed that if we'd ordered this in a restaurant, we'd be back again the next night. Here's our recipe:
Black & White Linguine with Fresh Clams & Calamari
Prep: 20 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Servings: 4-6
8 ounces fresh linguine*
8 ounces squid ink linguine (recipe below)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 small Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced small
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 pound small clams (approximately 20-22), such as Manila, rinsed and scrubbed
1/2 pound fresh calamari, cut into rings and tentacles
1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
Kosher Salt to taste
1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta al dente. Drain pasta. Set aside.
2. While pasta cooks, heat oil over medium in a Dutch oven or 5-quart heavy pot with a lid. Add garlic and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until garlic begins to turn fragrant (but not brown).
3. Add wine, and bring to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
4. Stir in calamari, then add clams; cover, and simmer, shaking pot occasionally, until clams open wide, 3 to 5 minutes. (Discard any that haven’t opened after 5 minutes.)
5. Add pasta to seafood mixture in pot along with tomatoes and olives; cook about 2 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce slightly and be absorbed by the linguini. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
* You can replace the fresh pastas with regular dried pasta from the grocery store. You can buy dried squid ink pasta online, or if you want to make your own, you can find the ink online as well.
Homemade Squid Ink Pasta
makes 1 pound
1. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 3 Tablespoons water, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, and 2 Tablespoons squid ink.
2. Form 3 cups flour into a mound on a clean work surface; create a well in center. Add the egg mixture to the well.
2. Using a fork, incorporate eggs mixture in a gentle, circular motion, pulling in small amounts of flour until dough becomes stiff.
3. Knead dough, adding a little flour as necessary, to prevent sticking, until it's smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap; let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Cut dough into quarters.
5. Flatten 1 quarter into a rectangle (cover others with a towel). Pass dough through a hand-cranked pasta roller set at widest setting. (This can also be done by hand).
6. Fold dough in thirds, creating another rectangle; feed open edge through roller set at widest setting. Fold again; roll twice more using same setting. Decrease setting one notch and roll pasta through again; repeat, decreasing setting by one notch each time until you've reached the second-to-last setting, creating a 1⁄16"-thick sheet.
7. Sprinkle sheet with flour; halve crosswise. Transfer to flour-dusted parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough, adding flour-dusted parchment paper between each layer.
8. Tightly roll each sheet, from short end to short end; cut cylinder crosswise into linguini-size strips (approx. 1/4"-wide), or use the setting on your pasta roller.
9. Unroll strips and toss with flour; spread on a floured parchment sheet. Let dry for 15 minutes.
