Without the title, it’s squid ink pasta with seafood sauce, but whenever I look at black spaghetti I see witches’ hair. Sometimes I eat this with garlic olive oil and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese – in which case I think of it as witches’ hair with dandruff.
This is possibly why I get on so well with my 7 year old godson.
Black Witches’ Hair Spaghetti with Sea Monster Sauce (serves 2)
2/3 packet of black squid ink spaghetti 1 cup of shrimp – peeled (I leave some with their heads on since it’s Halloween and they look more monster-ish) 1 cup of calamari – the tentacles look particularly spooky (I buy this frozen and defrost it for 15 minutes on the counter top before using) 1 tbsp olive oil (or chili oil if you have it) 2 cloves of garlic ½ cup of white wine 1 handful parsley Salt and pepper- Bring a large pan of water to the boil, salt well ( about 1 tbsp), return to the boil and add the pasta.
- Cook according to the packet directions – for dried I usually stop cooking a minute less than the packet time to make sure it’s al dente, for fresh, I usually knock off 30 seconds or so.
- While the pasta is cooking:
Rinse the shrimps and the calamari, and de-vein the shrimps. You do this by cutting into their backs and scraping out the black vein - Mince or grate the garlic, chop up the parsley and set aside
- When there’s about 2 minutes to go on the pasta:
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the minced garlic
- Toss in the calamari and the shrimps and stir for a minute – the shrimp will turn bright pink
- Pour in the wine and let it reduce for a minute, then add a small ladle-ful of pasta water
- Drain the pasta and toss into the frying pan
- Top with the parsley and season with salt and lots of black pepper
This recipe originally appeared with a Halloween tale of ghosts in old Broadway.