Homemade Squid Ink Pasta(al Pomodoro)
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 10 g squid ink
- 1 can fire roasted organic tomatoes
- 4 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
- fresh basil ( I used the small Greek variety)
- 4 multi colored small bell peppers
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virigin olive oil
Instructions
Start by making the pasta dough. Take the flour and create a small well in the middle. Crack both the eggs and add a dash of salt, the squid ink and a dash of salt before using your fingers to gently start bringing in the flour and mixing it with the egg mixture. Continue to create the dough by slowly bringing in the flour and using your hands knead into a dough. You may want to have a bench scraper on the side to assist in bringing in the flour, knead for 10 minutes before covering in plastic wrap and setting it in the fridge for 3 hours.
Once it has rested, lay a lightly floured baking sheet to hold the dough as you begin to flatten it. Cut the dough ball into 4 pieces and flatten it a bit with a rolling pin before feeding it through a pasta attachment starting out on the widest and working your way down to a setting of about 3-4. Set the flatten dough on the baking sheet before repeating with the other 3 pieces. Once all the dough is flattened, re fit the pasta attachment with a spaghetti cutter and gently lift each piece to feed it through. You'll want to have a bowl at the bottom to catch all the pieces. Lightly flour the cut spaghetti as it comes out into the bowl and repeat again with the other three flatten pasta pieces.
Now that your spaghetti is ready, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. While you wait for that, you can make the sauce for the pasta in a separate pan by placing 2 tbsp of olive oil and sautéing the peppers. Add the can of fire roasted tomatoes, paprika, red chili flakes and reduce to a simmer.
Once the salted water has come to a boil, add a dash of olive oil and then slowly add in your fresh pasta. It is ready when it rises to the top of the water or about 3 minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato sauce along with the parsley and cook for and additional 1-2 minutes. Before serving add in the fresh basil, pepper, and a dash of salt if needed and serve right away.
Notes
No pasta attachment for your kitchen aid stand mixer? You can still make the dish! Cut the dough in two and use a rolling pin to roll out both pieces to about 1/8 inch thick. Then using a very sharp knife cut it in half and begin to slice small pieces out of the dough. You will not have a spaghetti, but a fettuccine unless you have crazy knife skills. Add a minute more to the cooking process of the pasta and then add it to the sauce.
Who doesn’t love tasting the ocean when they eat spaghetti? Homemade pasta is not as intimidating as you may think, its really more of a bicep workout actually, all the kneading required to release the gluten from your flour. You’ll want to be careful not to over knead it, as then it’s going to become a bit too chewy. Once the hard part of kneading, waiting, flattening and then cutting is done, the prep work for the pasta is finished and you’ll have a meal in under 15 minutes. If you are short on time and want to make this for a dinner party, the pasta can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the fridge.
The flavor is super intense from the squid ink so while 10 grams doesn’t seem like a lot, this is one of those things where a little bit goes a long way. You can find squid ink at any speciality Italian store such as Eataly, or even amazon, but just make sure your splurge for the good stuff. If you want to add some additional protein in the dish, it will pair nicely with some grilled shrimp ( maybe grill up some skewers with grape tomatoes and serve that a top of the pasta to really impress, if your going all out serve it with Champagne). Since the pasta your working with is already so flavorful, it is in perfect harmony to a canned tomato sauce with fruity extra virgin olive oil and fresh mini bell peppers that not only add color but also a crunch if you wont be going the extra mile for shrimp. Other options can include some flash fried pancetta and sage, and of course nutty parmesan is always welcome.
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